They don't come as smooth as Captain Morgan. As MS Dhoni and his senior associates debated the field for the final delivery of the chase, off which England needed three to win, Eoin Morgan was calm, had a word with his partner and then waited. Jos Buttler had tried to be cheeky and didn't succeed the previous ball, but Morgan put an end to the game in the only way an expectant crowd sensing victory could have been silenced in disbelief - a deathly blow over the sightscreen when there seemed to be enough room in the field to squeeze a couple and take the game to a Super Over.

With a Test series won and a T20 series drawn, England rounded off their first leg of this tour of India on a happy note. The victory was also their highest successful chase in T20 internationals.

Ashok Dinda, who bowled that last over, had tried hard to get his yorkers on target, with nine needed. The first five deliveries yielded just six runs, thanks to some good outfielding, even though Dinda didn't quite find his mark each time. When Buttler first shaped up for a scoop off the penultimate ball before trying to guide it past Dhoni's right, only to miss it and steal a bye, it seemed his more enterprising instincts may have backfired. But it brought Morgan on strike, and when Dinda overpitched, he launched him straight over his head, dispatching the ball above the press box, 92 metres into the stands.

Smart stats

The target of 181 is the highest ever chased by England in Twenty20 internationals surpassing the 173 they chased against West Indies earlier this year. It is also the highest target chased in Twenty20 matches against India.

It is the eighth time overall (second time for England) that a team has completed a chase off the last ball of the innings. The previous time for England was against Australia in Adelaide in 2011.

Morgan's 49 is his fifth-highest score in Twenty20 internationals and equals his highest against India. The strike rate of 188.46 is his third-highest for a 30-plus score in Twenty20 internationals.

Yuvraj Singh's 3 for 17 is his best bowling performance for India in Twenty20 matches. It is also the second-best performance for India against England after Harbhajan Singh's 4 for 12 in Colombo earlier this year.

Yuvraj's economy rate in the series (4.50) is the second-best for India in a bilateral Twenty20 series of two or more matches (min eight overs bowled). The best is Harbhajan Singh's 4.25 against New Zealand in 2008-09.

Only Sunil Narine has picked up more wickets (7) than Yuvraj (6) in a Twenty20 bilateral series of two matches.

While Yuvraj conceded just 17, the four other bowlers went for 164 runs in 16 overs. The economy rate of the pace bowlers (10.75) is the third-highest for India in an innings (min eight overs bowled).

The 80-run stand between Alex Hales and Michael Lumb is the third-highest opening stand for England in Twenty20 matches and their highest against India.

Butler's contribution, too, was significant. He joined Morgan with England needing 29 off 13, and the partnership kicked off with Morgan immediately pulling Dinda for six over deep midwicket. Up against the inexperienced Parvinder Awana in the penultimate over, Buttler drove a low full toss through extra cover before hammering the bowler for a flat, straight six off the final ball to bring it down to nine off six. And Morgan completed the job.

Yuvraj Singh produced another excellent spell, picking up three wickets and conceding just 17 from his four overs, helping India recover from an opening partnership that threatened to take the game away from them. Michael Lumb produced his best performance in England colours, timing the ball superbly and showing plenty of intent, combining power play with some adept footwork that fetched him a lovely, straight six off R Ashwin. Lumb helped score 62 off the Powerplay and added 80 in 50 balls with Alex Hales, who impressed again with another productive hand.

Lumb's stumping, Luke Wright's lbw and Hales - who was dropped by Awana on 7 - holing out, all to Yuvraj, put the pressure back on England before Morgan and Buttler turned the tables. India had done the same in their innings towards the death, smashing 63 in the last five overs thanks to Suresh Raina and Dhoni stepping up, but England were outstanding in their groundfielding.

They threw themselves around in the outfield, the fast bowlers included, cutting off boundaries, often restricting the hosts, despite their good running between wickets, to twos. Though Raina and Dhoni's late assault threatened to undermine that, the runs saved by England, which kept India to a challenging but gettable 177, played an influential role in the outcome. India put down two chances - Piyush Chawla let off Samit Patel when was yet to score - and there was a fumble that cost four runs from the first ball of England's chase. In a game decided on the last ball, each lapse or incidence of brilliance had a magnified impact.

@ Hash_Tag: Oh and one more thing. You seem to be unable to deal with changing contexts - perhaps it is too much for your barren brain. When did I say Eng were a mediocre team in this series? I challenge you to show me the proof. I had said Eng were a mediocre team cos they were 80 a.o. in Wt20 in SL vs India - and that is a very fair assessment. Doubly so cos Eng were the defending champs and the pitch was rather flat. Moreover, while I expected Ind to win the Test series I did congratulate the Eng team for winning it 2-1, I don't know what else I could have done. The one thing this loss did was to highlight the role of Kumble in 90s when ppl often used to brush off his wickets saying they were on spinning wickets.

So far you have been rather childish in your comments and seem to be intent on attacking me any which way though u never have talked to me in the past. You need a better grip on contexts before you deal with me.

Hash_Tag
on December 25, 2012, 22:14 GMT

@Harmony111 - you are once again flaming the forum. Can you not stop yourself hurling insult after insult? - "a very malleable spine"...." you puny bunny"...." running to your countrymen"..."cos they aren't grey enough inside the skulls...". Your lack of restraint is a blight. Then you have the nerve to say "But this kind of behav doesn't show them in any good light". You are right about that @Harmony111 - this kind of behaviour does not show you in a good light. Read back what you write. It is insulting, offensive and unnecessary.

Hash_Tag
on December 25, 2012, 21:35 GMT

@Harmony111 - you claim that you "never gloat". What then is this; Harmony111 on (October 17 2011, 17:21 PM GMT)
"I just can't wait to hear what the over-zealous and blind Eng fans will come up with this time and for the remaining 3 times". It seems that is it alright for you to make excuses and boasts. You even excuse your own excuse making. Although it pains me to say it - England are a match for India even here on our own turf. No amount of name calling the other team "mediocre" can conceal it. Big talk and excuses prove nothing. Haven't you realised that excuses have gotten India nowhere? There are "over-zealous and blind fans" here @Harmony111....

Harmony111
on December 25, 2012, 21:29 GMT

@mark2011: So a last ball finish becomes a hammering for you cos your team won the match? If that is so then the near walk over Ind had in the 1st match must be like Jackhammering right? In any case it was a 1-1 drawn series so any Eng fan must be very intimately a 420 fan if he thinks it means Eng were by any means better than India in the series. Some Eng fans need maths lessons urgently cos 1-1 means 1-1 and not 1-0 or 2-0 as they would like to think. I am also noticing that most Eng fans have a very malleable spine - they make some silly points and then run away - never able to face the rebuttals. May be thats cos they often start from loose sand or may be cos they aren't grey enough inside the skulls. But this kind of behav doesn't show them in any good light.

Harmony111
on December 25, 2012, 21:19 GMT

@ A_Vacant_Slip: Ha Ha Ha, you puny bunny couldn't handle my solid point about Eng being a mediocre team cos they were 80 a.o in the premier contest of T20I and chose to find some solace from your fellow comrade? India won the 1st T20 in rather boring circumstances - it was that easy for them there and the 2nd T20 was absolute nail biter yet for you suddenly the 1st 2 matches I referred to don't matter and you are trying to make some delusion where a last ball finish is somehow ample proof that the losing side is mediocre --- what are you? Why don't you start posting under a new handle A_Vacant_Mind cos it seems you got one...it also seems u got no spine else you would have shown the guts to respond to me directly instead of running to your countryman and would not have resorted to personal attacks to me....

Harmony111
on December 25, 2012, 21:10 GMT

@Valavan: I am glad you mention a win is a win. The Eng fans in general are so relieved by this win that now they suddenly are having epiphanies about a win being a win. Exactly my dear - A win is a win. If for you a T20 last ball win is a win (which is a solid fact not distorted by me) then I hope you will agree that a WC Final win is a WC Final win too - whether at home or away or at Mars. Similarly, #1 rank is #1 rank - whether the ranking system is flawed or comparable to RSA. If a single shot by an Eng batsman is so good for you then I hope you will admit now that every run scored by Ind batsmen too deserves the same admiration whether scored at home or away. The day you learn be balanced would be the day ppl would start respecting Eng Team and Eng fans once again my dear. For now it seems that the Eng fans are like "every thing done by our team is a tough task and everything done by the other teams is trivial". When are you gonna mend it?

on December 25, 2012, 19:23 GMT

some desi fan calling Sehwag the best t20 player here .... LOL...... is every country making flat 'batsman friendly pitches' now?? ....that may be the only reason Sehwag could ever become THE BEST T20 PLAYER...... LOL..... why do people become so jingoistic

A_Vacant_Slip
on December 25, 2012, 18:52 GMT

@JG2704 I don't know why you are bothering. He is one of the worst of all of them. May even be the worst. Excuse does not win game of cricket - a point which is course entirely lost on him. Like much else.

Harmony111
on December 25, 2012, 17:46 GMT

@JG2704: I'd already said that after all those unforced errors Eng won off the last ball - it was a close tense match - I got to say I was somewhat more tense than usual during those final 12-15 balls cos I could clearly see the thin margin between it being 2-0 or 1-1. My point was: a win off the last ball doesn't really mean the losing side was mediocre or the winning side was miles ahead. All the other adjustments that you and I may talk of mean nothing now. Both the sides were without some key players - but then Eng get a huge benefit of chasing under dew. Lest you say I use dew as excuse I'd a;ready said Eng played well. I'm merely listing out the various parameters of this match. Some balls of Dinda were shocking while Awana looked nippy but overall tense. I'd not have picked Dinda ever again after the way he bowled vs Eng in SLWt20 but here he played again. And Dernbach is better than what he did here. Overall, none of the sides were too apart and that was whole point.

Valavan
on December 25, 2012, 17:28 GMT

@Harmony111,last ball win, change your grapes supplier. a Win is always a win. Joe Root, Tredwell, Meaker and butler, how many T20 internationals between them. Gambhir,Kohli, Dhoni, Raina, Yuvraj, Ashwin - How many T20s between them. What a shot by morgan did u see it, just made you to give excuses here. cricnfo please publish

Harmony111
on December 25, 2012, 22:34 GMT

@ Hash_Tag: Oh and one more thing. You seem to be unable to deal with changing contexts - perhaps it is too much for your barren brain. When did I say Eng were a mediocre team in this series? I challenge you to show me the proof. I had said Eng were a mediocre team cos they were 80 a.o. in Wt20 in SL vs India - and that is a very fair assessment. Doubly so cos Eng were the defending champs and the pitch was rather flat. Moreover, while I expected Ind to win the Test series I did congratulate the Eng team for winning it 2-1, I don't know what else I could have done. The one thing this loss did was to highlight the role of Kumble in 90s when ppl often used to brush off his wickets saying they were on spinning wickets.

So far you have been rather childish in your comments and seem to be intent on attacking me any which way though u never have talked to me in the past. You need a better grip on contexts before you deal with me.

Hash_Tag
on December 25, 2012, 22:14 GMT

@Harmony111 - you are once again flaming the forum. Can you not stop yourself hurling insult after insult? - "a very malleable spine"...." you puny bunny"...." running to your countrymen"..."cos they aren't grey enough inside the skulls...". Your lack of restraint is a blight. Then you have the nerve to say "But this kind of behav doesn't show them in any good light". You are right about that @Harmony111 - this kind of behaviour does not show you in a good light. Read back what you write. It is insulting, offensive and unnecessary.

Hash_Tag
on December 25, 2012, 21:35 GMT

@Harmony111 - you claim that you "never gloat". What then is this; Harmony111 on (October 17 2011, 17:21 PM GMT)
"I just can't wait to hear what the over-zealous and blind Eng fans will come up with this time and for the remaining 3 times". It seems that is it alright for you to make excuses and boasts. You even excuse your own excuse making. Although it pains me to say it - England are a match for India even here on our own turf. No amount of name calling the other team "mediocre" can conceal it. Big talk and excuses prove nothing. Haven't you realised that excuses have gotten India nowhere? There are "over-zealous and blind fans" here @Harmony111....

Harmony111
on December 25, 2012, 21:29 GMT

@mark2011: So a last ball finish becomes a hammering for you cos your team won the match? If that is so then the near walk over Ind had in the 1st match must be like Jackhammering right? In any case it was a 1-1 drawn series so any Eng fan must be very intimately a 420 fan if he thinks it means Eng were by any means better than India in the series. Some Eng fans need maths lessons urgently cos 1-1 means 1-1 and not 1-0 or 2-0 as they would like to think. I am also noticing that most Eng fans have a very malleable spine - they make some silly points and then run away - never able to face the rebuttals. May be thats cos they often start from loose sand or may be cos they aren't grey enough inside the skulls. But this kind of behav doesn't show them in any good light.

Harmony111
on December 25, 2012, 21:19 GMT

@ A_Vacant_Slip: Ha Ha Ha, you puny bunny couldn't handle my solid point about Eng being a mediocre team cos they were 80 a.o in the premier contest of T20I and chose to find some solace from your fellow comrade? India won the 1st T20 in rather boring circumstances - it was that easy for them there and the 2nd T20 was absolute nail biter yet for you suddenly the 1st 2 matches I referred to don't matter and you are trying to make some delusion where a last ball finish is somehow ample proof that the losing side is mediocre --- what are you? Why don't you start posting under a new handle A_Vacant_Mind cos it seems you got one...it also seems u got no spine else you would have shown the guts to respond to me directly instead of running to your countryman and would not have resorted to personal attacks to me....

Harmony111
on December 25, 2012, 21:10 GMT

@Valavan: I am glad you mention a win is a win. The Eng fans in general are so relieved by this win that now they suddenly are having epiphanies about a win being a win. Exactly my dear - A win is a win. If for you a T20 last ball win is a win (which is a solid fact not distorted by me) then I hope you will agree that a WC Final win is a WC Final win too - whether at home or away or at Mars. Similarly, #1 rank is #1 rank - whether the ranking system is flawed or comparable to RSA. If a single shot by an Eng batsman is so good for you then I hope you will admit now that every run scored by Ind batsmen too deserves the same admiration whether scored at home or away. The day you learn be balanced would be the day ppl would start respecting Eng Team and Eng fans once again my dear. For now it seems that the Eng fans are like "every thing done by our team is a tough task and everything done by the other teams is trivial". When are you gonna mend it?

on December 25, 2012, 19:23 GMT

some desi fan calling Sehwag the best t20 player here .... LOL...... is every country making flat 'batsman friendly pitches' now?? ....that may be the only reason Sehwag could ever become THE BEST T20 PLAYER...... LOL..... why do people become so jingoistic

A_Vacant_Slip
on December 25, 2012, 18:52 GMT

@JG2704 I don't know why you are bothering. He is one of the worst of all of them. May even be the worst. Excuse does not win game of cricket - a point which is course entirely lost on him. Like much else.

Harmony111
on December 25, 2012, 17:46 GMT

@JG2704: I'd already said that after all those unforced errors Eng won off the last ball - it was a close tense match - I got to say I was somewhat more tense than usual during those final 12-15 balls cos I could clearly see the thin margin between it being 2-0 or 1-1. My point was: a win off the last ball doesn't really mean the losing side was mediocre or the winning side was miles ahead. All the other adjustments that you and I may talk of mean nothing now. Both the sides were without some key players - but then Eng get a huge benefit of chasing under dew. Lest you say I use dew as excuse I'd a;ready said Eng played well. I'm merely listing out the various parameters of this match. Some balls of Dinda were shocking while Awana looked nippy but overall tense. I'd not have picked Dinda ever again after the way he bowled vs Eng in SLWt20 but here he played again. And Dernbach is better than what he did here. Overall, none of the sides were too apart and that was whole point.

Valavan
on December 25, 2012, 17:28 GMT

@Harmony111,last ball win, change your grapes supplier. a Win is always a win. Joe Root, Tredwell, Meaker and butler, how many T20 internationals between them. Gambhir,Kohli, Dhoni, Raina, Yuvraj, Ashwin - How many T20s between them. What a shot by morgan did u see it, just made you to give excuses here. cricnfo please publish

jmcilhinney
on December 25, 2012, 17:25 GMT

@mark2011 on (December 25 2012, 17:01 PM GMT), given that Sehwag, arguably the best T20 batsman in the world, wasn't playing in this game or the one against Pakistan, you can hardly say that it was India's full-strength team. While I am very pleased that England won this game and congratulate Pakistan on their victory, I can't respect fans from any country who just want to stick the boot in, especially when their claims are obviously false.

mark2011
on December 25, 2012, 17:01 GMT

ohh what pity now india is getting hammered in their own backyard... after loosing test seies.. now couldn't do much in the less stong Eng T20 team with India's full strength team.... i think India down has started...look at today.. They lost to Pak also similar way.....

JG2704
on December 25, 2012, 11:10 GMT

@Harmony111 on (December 25 2012, 09:51 AM GMT) Notice that you pick up on India playing 2 rookies in this match but not that England were without their 2 best ODI players in Swann and KP (for both games). Funny that whenever England beat India we seem to get the excuses coming out - like it can't simply be that England actually beat India on merrit. Yes England were beaten heavily , fair and square in the previous 2 meetings but over our last 4 meetings it's 2-2 and all 4 have been in India or SL. So surely if England are mediocre , would that not also make India mediocre or is mediocrity based over one game?

Harmony111
on December 25, 2012, 9:51 GMT

@A_Vacant_Slip: While Eng played well to win the last T20 you have to note it came off the last ball, Ind had two rookies, there was excess dew on the ground and some of the fielding and catching of Indian fielders was appalling. Yep you could say that Eng gave away so many extras while bowling. The bottomline is, after all these unforced errors, Eng won off the last ball. Further the T20 series was drawn 1-1 and contrary to what you seem to think, Eng did not win it. I don't think it suddenly proves that Eng are a good T20 team or that India are not a good team. If you want solid proof then look at the Ind-Eng T20 in SL WT20. Eng were bowled out for 80 there on a very flat wicket - Now that is ample proof that Eng are a mediocre T20 team no matter how much you may curse me, Btw, I never claimed Ind are a great T20 team - don't use straw man tactics on me. You ppl are kinda relieved at the last ball win and see a 1-1 draw as Eng's win. Suddenly now you & your elk care for T20 huh.

Solid_Snake
on December 25, 2012, 4:42 GMT

@g.narsimha->You Comparing Chetan Sharma with a 17 year old Aamir?
Chetan who used to bowl along wth Kapil Dev..You calling him a Rookie?
Dont tell me that India was out of bowlers so they brought a Rookie to bowl along with Kapil Dev & that Rookie kept on bowling consistently for several years.Went into hiding i guess after that six.Aamir started playing in 2009..& if anyone starts jumping after hitting a six on such player..That's the height of amusement..Amir was Rookie lol..You are talking as if Amir was playing from last 10 years & had great experience.HE had talent but it dosent mean that he surpasses experience.

A_Yorkshire_Lad
on December 24, 2012, 23:54 GMT

@whatsgoinoutofhere - not wanting to be pedantic but I suspect not many people will indeed have heard of ' bob ' lumb ; I presume you're talking about Richard Lumb ! Cheers !

TheRisingTeam
on December 24, 2012, 14:47 GMT

@WickyRoy.paklover:- At least these overrated minnows hold matches safely and have passionate fans.

g.narsimha
on December 24, 2012, 6:09 GMT

HAQ-33- only u people can boast of a last ball six by u r so called flat track bully in SHARJAAH off a roocky un known bowler -but what about HARBHAJANS penaltimate ball SIX off u r so called worlds best talent - AAMIR in ASIA CUP match in SL IN 2010.

WickyRoy.paklover
on December 24, 2012, 5:50 GMT

Ind vs bd would b a house packd thriller btwen 2 over.ratd minnows having the most no. Of non.sensical,mindless sets fans

landl47
on December 24, 2012, 4:44 GMT

@Bruisers, Mark Demos and others foreseeing the death of test cricket: I'm guessing you guys are fairly young. My memory goes back to the start of one-day cricket in England in 1963, the first ODI between Eng and Aus in 1971 and the first ODI world cup in 1975. ODIs were new and exciting and would mean the end of test cricket. Now ODIs are struggling to stay relevant and test cricket is still regarded as the peak of the game. T20 will have even a shorter spell at the top. True cricket fans realize that T20 leads to defensive bowling and field placings, one-dimensional batting and, worst of all, very little chance to see the best players in action because the game is so short. In ten years T20 will be searching around for rule changes and sponsorship and test cricket will still be the highest form of the game. Pak beat England 3-0 in tests this year and lost the ODIs 4-0 and T20s 2-1. The Pak fans regard this as a triumph, not a disaster, because tests matter, ODIs and T20s don't.

on December 23, 2012, 22:04 GMT

Close game, rarely T20's goes so close, well played England bad luck India.

A_Vacant_Slip
on December 23, 2012, 17:27 GMT

@Neeraj Gupta on (December 23 2012, 15:07 PM GMT) - yes that's fine, but we are talking T20i here and T20i India recent record is, in England 2011, lost, in Australia drew 1-1, in India 2011 v England lost (at home), in India 2012 v England drew (at home) 1-1. Not seeing too many win there for team India - so why exactly are you crowing? Luckily for you we are only talking about India T20i, because if we were talking about 50ov ODI (as you seem to be doing) this would be worse. Lost in triangular series twice to Zimbabwe 2010, Lost in England 2011 3-0, lost CB series in Australia 2012, lost Asia cup 2012. Need I continue - ? My my, what a lot of loses. Nothing else to say.

Pettel
on December 23, 2012, 16:07 GMT

Agree Jim he certainly looks one for the future and I think we will witness some powerful knocks. The gloves I would give to Prior really think he would strengthen this team. Patel, may be on his way out just don't think he's as bad as some think, especially in Asia. Others seem to be praised for next to nothing.

dabhand
on December 23, 2012, 15:52 GMT

@ Whatsgoinoffoutthere - succinctly put - without ex pat cricketers of all shades many of the smaller nations (from a cricketing point of view) would have no team and those who would ban all but native born players playing for a country just don't understand the reality of the cricketing (and most other sports) world. Their lack of knowledge is born out by the accuracy of their predictions.

jmcilhinney
on December 23, 2012, 15:36 GMT

@Pettel on (December 23 2012, 14:15 PM GMT), while it's certainly not guaranteed that Buttler would do better coming in earlier, the indications are that he could. For some time he couldn't even manage the cameos but, in this short series and that one innings against SA, he has looked like fulfilling his considerable potential. I wonder whether the show of faith by giving him the gloves has helped too. He did look as good or better than both Kieswetter and Bairstow behind the stumps, although we'd need to see more of him to make a proper judgement. While I'm not as down as some others are on Patel, I don't think that he is valuable enough to warrant a place as a batsman alone and I see Buttler as a better long-term prospect and, at the moment, as looking more destructive.

jmcilhinney
on December 23, 2012, 15:30 GMT

@Neeraj Gupta on (December 23 2012, 15:07 PM GMT), I think that there is something else to say. Did you look at England's last three Test series in India too? I'm guessing that England didn't win any of them but they just won the last Test series 2-1. That is an indication at least that they may well do better in the ODI series than on previous occasions. I'm guessing that you were confident of a 2-0 result in the T20s as well.

on December 23, 2012, 15:19 GMT

@Swapnil_
We are at India not to win the trophy but to win some good friends and hopefully we will.
And yes thank God your collage team is not playing we Pakistanis have bad habit of making world records and we won't like to make a word record of biggest wins and Umar Gul already own best bowling figures in T20 history and Afridi holds worlds fastest century record and the record of hitting biggest six of cricket history so enough records for a we centuries :)

on December 23, 2012, 15:15 GMT

@LillianThomson
You are right we good world class bowling attach and our only strength is good bowling attach like India posses good batting.

on December 23, 2012, 15:15 GMT

stop this circus t20, it is only a waste of time what a great performance from ,master reverse swing bowler jimmy and great performance from great spinner swan and magnificent batsman prior is ,a great matchwinner , what a gem of performance by england test team ,the real ckt...

on December 23, 2012, 15:13 GMT

@The-love
You are right Misbah and Hafeez are good Test players but what on the earth are they doing in ODI and T20 sides.

on December 23, 2012, 15:12 GMT

@SASANK360
You are right if Dhoni would have Captained current Pakistani team we would have been number one team in all three formats and also Word Champion in T20 at-least he is the best Captain I have ever seen. I support CSK in IPL because of Dhoni and his captaincy.

on December 23, 2012, 15:07 GMT

england's last 3 one day series results:5-1(2005),5-0(2008) and 5-0(2011),nothing else to say

Whatsgoinoffoutthere
on December 23, 2012, 14:17 GMT

@ glance_to_leg:

Ever heard of Bob Lumb? You know, one of Geoff Boycott's opening partners at Yorkshire? You must remember the bloke, you know... MIKE LUMB'S DAD!!!

NOW do you get it?

Stuart Meaker and Jade Dernbach both came to this country as children: what were they supposed to do, run away and live on the streets or go with their parents? My own reservations about Eoin Morgan revolve in the main around weakening the development of a very promising Irish team and not the strengthening of the England team: if Morgan wants to settle here, that's his decision as it is his legal right to request to do so.

Many of the people who are in this (fairly small) country have family trees that cover several continents. Given our history, it isn't hard to see why. What are we supposed to do? Discriminate against these people? That would set a very dangerous precedent - don't even go there!

Or to put it another way: GET OVER IT!

EnglishCricket
on December 23, 2012, 14:17 GMT

Common India that was our A team that beat you. Obviously declining in Cricket but not the only ones good luck! :P

Pettel
on December 23, 2012, 14:15 GMT

Buttler is alright where he is playing his cameos. It doesn't follow that going in earlier he'd get more runs. He went in in the 7th and 11th overs in World Cup games and didn't get double figures. Patel got 67 in the last World Cup game whilst the rest looked like mugs, probably why he's batting where he is. Dont know why he no longer bowls especially seeing what Yuvraj gets away with.

on December 23, 2012, 14:03 GMT

I liked the fight back even after getting a big target, England rocks, Psycho impact on India before they take on Pakistan (Most unpredictable cricket team coupled with power of bowling and reasonable batting) India has advantage of his batting only, Pakistanis just get panic and give away wickets to loose bowling attack for nothing else Overall Pakistan is 20 if India is 19.

on December 23, 2012, 14:03 GMT

5 more years and test cricket will be played by 4-6 countries at the most. 10 years RIP the great battle of test cricket. Times are a changing and test cricket will be the thing of wonderful memories. Test cricket is almost now the wwelfare child of T20. Sad but we live in a T20 age so it is time to embrace the reality. Test cricket was from an age when it took 3 weeks to get from SA to UK or 4-5 weeks from UK to Aus. A new age has begun.

getgopi
on December 23, 2012, 13:50 GMT

This was a very good T20 game. The Brits should send in Buttler ahead of Samit. Buttler handled pressure superbly. No idea why Samit's spin wasn't explored. The Indians should send Raina back in at 3, his original place in this format. Virat can play at 3 in ODIs. If anything, Jadeja is a good T20 bowler and can also hit a few. So he should be considered before Chawla.

Pettel
on December 23, 2012, 12:47 GMT

You're getting desperate calling Lumb South African. If a dog is born in a stable does that make it a horse ?

glance_to_leg
on December 23, 2012, 11:58 GMT

On the whole T20 is boring, repetitive, formulaic, and lacks the narrative brilliance of test cricket. At its best it is a hugely exciting chance to watch brilliantly honed skills. The bowling in this match was generally rather poor, the batting was on the whole wonderful. The key difference between the two sides was India's appalling fielding, which would have shamed many club sides: dropped catches, fumbles, badly directed returns to the stumps. This is surprising given the amount of T20 cricket played in India. My only thought is that too many Indian players are unfit, and believe their own hype. But perhaps they were just bad on the day. As an England fan, I was delighted that our Irish captain batted with such brilliance, to finish off an innings launched so well by one of our South African imports.

duncanmoo
on December 23, 2012, 11:49 GMT

I would argue that Lumb and Hales won it for England and Morgan delivered it with Buttler, just as Gambhir and Rahane lost it for India (can't fault Yuvraj when you take his bowling into account)

on December 23, 2012, 11:36 GMT

Heard many things about Awana, but if this is future of indian pace attack, then it is darker than the thoughts of selectors.

brusselslion
on December 23, 2012, 11:09 GMT

@Perceptive on (December 23 2012, 01:22 AM GMT): For someone "..genuinely happy.." you do come across as being awlfully bitter.

hhillbumper
on December 23, 2012, 10:26 GMT

the greatest team ever it would appear is actually not that good? It must be strange having one sport for a country that large and having no decent players. Better book some games against Zimbabwe so you can test yourself against a similar strength.

A_Vacant_Slip
on December 23, 2012, 10:21 GMT

Considering that our friend @CptMeanster is such a GIANT fan of T20 - you would certainly expect him to be here. I wonder why he is not here...??? @brussellslion - absolutely brilliant!!!!. @Paul-Rone-Clark - considering the relentless merciless hammering that several India "fan" have given England since Ashes 2010/11 I do believe your comment is justified. My Christmas wish is that people like @maddy20, @bigwonder, @Harmony111, etc, reconsider their comment and stop their nonsense. By now even they must realise that India really isn't that great.

Its a terrific victory and most importantly, this is a young English side which won this match. I think its what our teams from sub continent must learn, the way which countries like England, South Africa and Australia used to manage the modern game of cricket. Forming different sides, different players and making appropriate decisions according to the format. Its is more compulsory for teams in this region because the amount of matches they have to play is way beyond the normal. If the sub continent boards can't manage the number of matches which is left to play, at least they should concern about managing player fitness and stamina other than concerning only financial goals by forming different sides for different formats.

saintsinister
on December 23, 2012, 8:31 GMT

Sorry to say but both India and Pakistan have bad captains.. Waiting on something to happen instead of making something happen will most often than not make your team lose the matches.. Kohli should be handed over the captaincy due to his aggressive attitude + performances and in Pakistan we don't even have a good option whatsoever.. Hafeez loooks alrite but then again you need a performing captain to command respect..

Professor.Biscuit.Khan
on December 23, 2012, 8:19 GMT

@ NOuman AnjUm - yeah we saw how good Pak fast bowlers are. In WC t-20 Pak was playing with combination of 4 spinners and 1 medium-pacer. gone r those days when pak used to produce fast bowlers. now all u have got is one Ajmal who is already 35+ and who looks simple ineffective against the likes of Kohli.

jmcilhinney
on December 23, 2012, 8:19 GMT

@Sukh Taank on (December 22 2012, 22:52 PM GMT), Test cricket is a very different game to T20. Certain bowlers can be effective in limited-overs cricket because the batsmen are looking to attack all the time and, if they're hard to get away, wickets can result. In Test cricket though, the batsmen can afford to be far more patient and a bowler like Yuvraj, while occasionally handy, is never going to be a force in Test cricket.

adillove
on December 23, 2012, 8:12 GMT

Real cricket from Morgan and a deserved victory for England really loved that last ball six from Morgan.
Indian's laziness for the first half of England's innings and the last catch of Patel from Gambhir made it for England!

on December 23, 2012, 7:47 GMT

Magnificent batting by Lumb, Hales & Morgan; & a far better advert for the brutal charms of T20 than the insipid IPL can ever hope to be. Let's not get *too* carried away, though: this England team is still very much a work in progress. Both captains erred significantly in placing too much faith in their seamers (Patel, unaccountably, wasn't given a single over, which rather begs the question: if he's not a tempo-changing power hitter & he's no longer trusted with the ball, what's he doing in the team?), *all* the seamers apart from Bresnan bowled ludicrously short, & Jos Buttler very nearly self-sabotaged the otherwise excellent impression he's made in this series by attempting that moronic, premeditated scoop shot off the penultimate ball. On the plus side, though, our batting's starting to settle nicely, Buttler looks a far better option as a keeper than either Kieswetter or Bairstow, & Morgan's in a different league to Broad as a captain. Let's hope he displaces him ASAP.

YorkshirePudding
on December 23, 2012, 7:26 GMT

@Ahmed Hussain, thats a new excuse playing too much cricket, compared to other nations like Aus, and England they havent played that much cricket, I believe since the 2011 wc they've played 2 vs NZ, 5 tests against the WI's, 4 against England, and 4 vs Aus thats 15 tests, England have played 22 tests, as for ODI's England and India have probably played the same number, so I dont know how you can claim they've played too much cricket.

shrastogi
on December 23, 2012, 6:35 GMT

England won the match due to their superior fielding but Indian approach to batting was questionable. Top order didnt contribute enough and India were 15-20 short especially with the fact that India has young bowlers who had to bowl under dew. Rahane surprises me with his approach in t20s. He was making runs in IPL with orthodox cricketing shots but in this series he got carried away. Indian batting woulkd need to carry team against Pakistan as well so top order need to contribute well. Awana is just too raw right now he nees to bowl a lot more in first class and list A.

on December 23, 2012, 6:24 GMT

home advantage, spin friendly pitches, lots of spinners in the team, lots of experienced batsmen in the team; result: test series:defeat, t20 series: draw; certainly England is not Bangladesh. But shouldn't u mr Shewag now say that England is not India...? :)

m0se
on December 23, 2012, 6:05 GMT

Why is Ashwin always referred as "R Ashwin" all the time? Is there another Ashwin I don't know about?

SASANK360
on December 23, 2012, 6:02 GMT

@Shehzad Nizamani. You are right mate. Dhoni is a very good captain. It is unfair from some of our Indian fans to blame him. If bowlers are so inept what can the captain do? Dhoni did the job as batsman and gave acceleration towards the end. But our bowlers are so inept that they ended up undoing hardwork of batsmen. Coming to Misbah, I pity him because he is so static and non-communicative.
He is surviving just because Pakistan keep producing world class bowlers, spinners or fastmen.
Just give Dhoni the captaincy of current Pakistan team.
He will make miracles with that topclass bowling attack.

on December 23, 2012, 5:34 GMT

The man responsible for making it easier for Morgan is Asoke Dinda He flings the ball with speed and little purpose and is thwacked effortlessly He does not seem to learn from the belting he gets and carries on regardless It is amusing to see the shock on his face when he is butchered as if a great delivery has been dispatched to the fence and how could the batsman do that It is a pity that the Indians with the Pace Foundation, the Academy and all the money have produced nothing in the fast bowling department Yadav and Aaron are accidents from a village background and there is little else

andrew27994
on December 23, 2012, 5:17 GMT

And for those who think India is a minnow team, that's a bit harsh considering that every team except South Africa have had lean patches in certain formats in the past. For example:-
Pakistan in 2009-10 had a lean patch in Tests
Australia struggled in Tests shortly after the retirement of McGrath, Warne, Gilly and Hayden.
Sri Lanka are currently going through a lean patch since the retirement of Murali, Vaas and Jayasuriya
England have struggled in ODIs before 2009 especially in the subcontinent
New Zealand and West Indies are still struggling in all formats except T20s

So should that mean that all nations except South Africa are minnows?
And more importantly does that mean that all the WORLD CUP WINNERS are "MINNOWS" ???????

andrew27994
on December 23, 2012, 5:07 GMT

Another thing which was disappointing to see was the stunned silence of the crowd after such a good contest. The people should learn to appreciate a good cricket match especially if it is a less important format like T20 because after all T20 is just for entertainment. Likewise the people commenting on this forum shouldn't be mocking the losing team of such a close contest. So what if India are playing in their backyard? I notice home advantage doesn't make a significant impact in T20s like it does for Tests and ODIs. So just appreciate both teams for putting up a good contest and applaud the winning team (England) for holding their nerve.

The-love
on December 23, 2012, 5:04 GMT

@Swapnil_ :- Hey mate,being an Indian these defeats hurt but that does not mean that in anger we stop supporting our country.Only problem with our team is we don't have the bowlers to back our batsmen.Yes off-course batters didn't perform well in test series but we were not able to dismiss England too.
So I request you to not to be so disappointed and as always be optimistic.That's what we Indians are known for.So let us congratulate England and Welcome Pakistan....

Bruisers
on December 23, 2012, 5:00 GMT

One last ball six and the haters are jumping around.. Had it been a wicket/a dot ball instead, what would they be saying now?

"England could not care less the T20" Similarly INDIA DO NOT CARE ABOUT TESTS ANYMORE. T20 is here to stay and Tests will die out. So England are mastering a format that will fade out in a few years whereas India are ruling the REAL CRICKET - T20 CRICKET.

The-love
on December 23, 2012, 5:00 GMT

@Shehzad Nizamani :- For Hafeez and Sami I can understand friend. But why don't u like other two guys.Misbah is one of the best Current Test Players available for Pakistan.He is a very good ODI Player too.I think Younis Khan would have contributed more for Pak if He had been the captain of pakistan.

andrew27994
on December 23, 2012, 4:59 GMT

It is dreadful to see some of the comments in this forum criticising the losing team (India) of such a close contest. To be honest both teams were equally bad but the match went down to the wire. Just because most of the England players do not play IPL doesn't mean they're no good. In my opinion, I think England is the better T20 team in terms of talent and skills. Many people fail to see it because most of the players are young and inexperienced, but it doesn't mean that they don't have the ability to win a match. I wouldn't say that India's XI was a full strength team either because they don't have much new blood in the team. Players like Ashwin, Gambhir and Kohli shouldn't even be concentrating in this format at all. It has nothing to do with how successful they can be in this format but T20 is not their speciality.

Gloryof96
on December 23, 2012, 4:43 GMT

I was about to say Ind should scrap all international cricket and concentrate on their IPL but having seen this .... geeez, cant beat a B team even!!! But great win for Eng and I'm sure they will make plenty of hay while its sunny

on December 23, 2012, 4:32 GMT

No one can deny Awana is the main reson for Indian loss in T20... But this guy bowled well in the between overs... Sure he was tensed ... He let that pressure got into his mind & was unable to put his best. But I still can say this guy needs more chances ( 3-4 games), if he fails let him go back to domestic cricket & let him earn his spot again.

Sinhabahu
on December 23, 2012, 4:22 GMT

Well played, England! This is too funny...after the first T20, our Indian friends were jumping all over the place with their usual elegance (or rather, lack of it). Now they are once again nowhere in sight! LOL!

on December 23, 2012, 4:19 GMT

shameful defeats? are you kidding? The arrogance of Indian punters is beyond belief.
Your team put up a good total and lost in a close game.. If you consider that shameful you guys need your heads read.

Try being from New Zealand with 4 million people in our country. We lose 90 percent of our games, but I still support out team without fail.
Its a game, someone has to lose.. and England are a good team (as is India).
Not everyone can win, Indian public need to get a clue and stop bagging there team and just support them and enjoy the game.

Have you thought maybe India arent playing bad but perhaps other teams are playing slightly better?
typical Tiger wood mentality back in the day.
If he didn't win he would say he played poorly, instead of someone else beating him by them playing good.

Get over yourselfs, and give your team some credit.
They are playing their best and not being embarrassed in any way shape or form.

LillianThomson
on December 23, 2012, 4:06 GMT

@Shehzad N is quite right in his desire for Pakistan to swap Dhoni for Misbah-ul-Haq.

But he doesn't go far enough.

If Hafeez is ever to realise his full potential as an off-spinning opener, he should be sent to see Sehwag to learn how to gain 25 kg and lose the use of his feet.

Junaid Khan and Wahab Riaz should also be sent to learn how to bowl as slowly (and run as little and as slowly) as Zaheer Khan. Most importantly, Saeed Ajmal's accuracy and menace should be swapped for Ashwin's poor control and excessive variation.

balajit
on December 23, 2012, 4:00 GMT

Good match! Poor fielding did India in. That was the difference between winning & losing. The other factor which also played a role in England winning was poor bowling by Indian bowlers except yuvraj.

Ashwin situation is alarming. He seems to be a confused individual not knowing what to do. Totally ineffective! But where is the alternative?

As for as chawla is considered he is just run of the mill bowler who cant spin the ball.

Dinda & awana bowled too short not clever thinking!

Hope they try out bhuneshwar kumar in Pakistan series

on December 23, 2012, 3:51 GMT

England continue to impress.As they reach the last leg of their hugely successful tour,India is groping in the dark for answers. After the lacerated wound in the form of a rare test series at home,a drawn 20 20 must have felt like rubbing salt to that . A comprehensive win in the 5 match ODI series that will follow this will slightly assuage the wounded feelings of hapless Indian fans who are of late exposed to the unpleasant sight of their team slumping to defeat after defeat.England s ODI record in India especially in recent times has left a lot to be desired. India will start the definite favourites,but the young England side boosted by the arrival of their hard hitting short format specialists will give India a run for their money.A clean sweep on the lines of their last tour is hard to conceive . MSD and his men will do well to use this series to fine tune their strategy to spruce up the team for the tougher challenges that lies ahead of them. Arch rivals Pakistan have arrived

on December 23, 2012, 3:48 GMT

3 runs to win off one ball.
Morgan hit a six over Mid-on and England won.
Chamara Kapugedara also hit a six of the last ball to win a world cup match against India at West indies, 2010.

on December 23, 2012, 3:46 GMT

wonderful win for England! so the "Home Champions" cant even win the t20 series

PointFielder
on December 23, 2012, 3:37 GMT

Awana lost the match for India with his fielding. He dropped Alex on 7 runs who went to score 42. Also, the three extra runs that the Awana gave on Dinda's bowling while fielding on the boundary. We cannot win a match when one of our fielder costs us 45 runs in a field in a T20 match, unless when the opposition also field that bad.

kr_kinshuk
on December 23, 2012, 3:35 GMT

dinda is not international cricket - worthy material, period....
not at the moment at least....
for all the praise that the two englishmen deserve, i was actually surprised that dinda got through five deliveries without getting smacked to the boundary....

couldn't get a good look at awana but the figures suggest he too was struggling...

btw, what's the point of staging these games when dew is so clearly a factor....

didn't catch the pune game on telly but yesterday the field was so god-damn wet by the middle of the second innings that practically every ball people were whipping out their towels to dry up that ball!!!!

LillianThomson
on December 23, 2012, 3:34 GMT

I'm starting to feel really sorry for India, because they are diverging away from the mainstream cricket world.

Here in Australia, T20 attendances are down 40% and TV viewers are down 30%. Public and players alike consider the game to be pulp entertainment for people who don't really like cricket, in which mediocrities can slog a few quick runs against castrated bowlers.

England is little different: all their good players and even their coach were on the next plane home after the Fourth Test, and couldn't care less about the T20s.

But reading the posts here it seems as if Indians both take T20 seriously and think that good players perform best in it.

Where does this end? Players of all nationalities like the money from IPL, but clearly consider T20 to be to their sport what beach soccer is to football.

I'm increasingly thinking that there are going to be parallel cricket circuits: an Indian T20 one and a Test one.

on December 23, 2012, 3:21 GMT

Well played England! I think if the Hales catch was not dropped, india would have won. I think Gambhir is not a good opener for T20. Maybe Rihanna and Kohli should open.

I want my team Pakistan to win, but I think it will be tough for them in India. But I think the teams are balanced....Pakistan can't bat and India can't bowl!

I am already feeling tense though the match is a few days away. Pakistan must resolve their opening problems. I think Mohammad Hafeez is not a reliable opener.

Good luck Pakistan!

Hammond
on December 23, 2012, 3:19 GMT

@Greatest_Game- actually, the only irrelevant thing here is the entire T20 format. What a bore!

crick_wizard
on December 23, 2012, 3:09 GMT

What is chawla doing in the team? Time and again, he has shown how mediocre and inconsistent he is...still he keeps getting picked in various formats..Ohja and mishra are much better bowlers, on any day, in any format...I really don't know what the selectors see in chawla and jadeja that I cannot see...

jmcilhinney
on December 23, 2012, 3:06 GMT

There have been some classless comments from quite a number of India fans on this site in the past but let us not forget that a large number of India fans is still a small minority of the total number of India fans. If England and Pakistan fans do the same thing, regardless of who said what first, then they're no better. As England fans, let us not forget that this game went down to the wire and took a very good hit from Morgan on the last ball to win it, while the first game was won by India at a canter. While England will be quite happy to come away from this series with a 1-1 result, if I had to decide who had the better of the series then I'd have to say that it was India. I do think that having an even number of games in the series is a bit silly though.

Stephen_Smith
on December 23, 2012, 3:02 GMT

Good win, considering England were fielding a inexperienced side against the overrated hyped up indians. 1.2 billion people playing a single sport and indians still can't compete in cricket. nice.

Eat_Sleep_Play_Cricket
on December 23, 2012, 2:45 GMT

@Lanka fans: Who are jumping up and down! Few say T20 is a joke and few say test match is a real cricket match. IF you look at lanka's test rankings they are currently at 6th and if they lose the boxing day test match against OZ, they you will be below West indies at #7 just above Bangladesh

@English Fans: Yeah, If Morgan is a English B team captain then surely Swan, KP and others would be in England C team.. Its so funny, if England looses the match than it is a boring t20 game, if England wins than t20 it is the best game of cricket.

Happy Holidays

jimbond
on December 23, 2012, 2:12 GMT

I like this about the English fans. When England loses in T20, its because England doesnt care about the format, and because its main players are not playing. If England wins, its a great victory for Christmas.

T20 remains a lottery, three overs of domination somewhere and you win. It also doesnt matter if you play established players or new players. In fact, if anything India's failure to win could be traced to the remnants of the test team. Gambhir single-handedly lost the game for them. He still carries the mentality and tiredness of the test series. For Dhoni, there could be an exception, as this is the format where he belongs. They could find someone else to keep for tests.

Indian selectors are a strange lot, they make test selections based on IPL performance. It would be far more logical to make T20 selections based on IPL performance. Rather than Chawla, they would benefit more from IPL successes such as Nadeem or Chavan or Negi.

on December 23, 2012, 2:11 GMT

awana was looking like big"deewana" on the field... dropping hales on 7 was a big turnaround in the match... and leaking runs at will with his club side bowling...

Solid_Snake
on December 23, 2012, 1:53 GMT

@India->Please let Awana & Danda play in the team against Pakistan :)

Dravid_Pujara_Gravitas
on December 23, 2012, 1:36 GMT

Oh well, so that's a drawn series. What did we actually achieve by being so fatigued and disinterested in test matches? Very saddened to see the sorry state of affairs of our test team.

Perceptive
on December 23, 2012, 1:22 GMT

I am genuinely happy that a last ball victory, 3 days after being comprehensively beaten, can generate such happiness amongst not one but two nations, with there being no coincidence that these two nations would trade anything to be in the global position within which India finds itself.

Well done. Have it! Some of the sad sad posters one here revelling as though you have clobbered McGrath and Lee or Garner and Holding as opposed to Dinda and Awana...brilliant! And the bile spewed from the foaming mouths of people suffering with inferiority complex and jingoistic delusions of grandeur in equal measure. I am proud to be a fan of a nation whose defeat can bring such happiness to natives of lands where success does not come easily and in one case where mediocrity is synonymous with greatness, whilst the rest of the world sit back and laugh at both. Enjoy! :)

on December 23, 2012, 1:20 GMT

i know most of you guys will not agree with me one again indian selectors and stupid captain ship of dhoni lost the match. dhoni is nonthink in captain but very destructive player. ok for the start i don't know why avana in team where is zakeer khan,ish sharma, harbajan they should be in the 20/20 one day squad not in test match squad. then last match ashwin had maiden over in first over against lumb and he can't play much in spin why dhoni gifted hin 50 runs with stupid avana? and last match i don't know why yuvaraj sing came as the seventh bowler if u look at his past record he is always best. and dhoni think he is king in captain so take stupid decision so he should be get sacked now from all the format of captain. ok what should have done? even if you want to play useless avana should not put him pressure on power play and in the end of overs.ash,yuvi shold

Ms.Cricket
on December 23, 2012, 1:20 GMT

Gambhir took 27 balls to score 17 in this T20 match! Gambhir ran out Sehwag in Mumbai Test (and that was the changing moment that India started to get behind in the Test series after winning the first Test) and Gambhir ran out India's leading run scorer Pujara in Kolkata. Why is Gautam Gambhir still in the any India team????????

Welcome Pakistan. Your win is guaranteed. You know Indian Tourist Dept's slogan? "Adithi Devo Bhava"... The guest is like God; serve him like God". Our Indian cricket Team will, no doubt.

on December 23, 2012, 0:25 GMT

England fielding was 'electric'. Their superior fielding alone might have cut off at least 20 Indian runs! India fielding which was good in the first T-20, fell apart in the second one. Awana's dropped catch was the most comical to say the least. His general fielding too; where Dinda scored over him. May be nerves!

Though Alex Hales, Morgan & Lumb are good batsmen, Hales looks the best among the three. It is a surprise, Lumb & Morgan are 'seen' in the international T-20 club / franchise circuit a lot and NOT Hales!

on December 23, 2012, 0:17 GMT

Are Dinda & Awana international class? No. Not yet. Perhaps, with a lot of work they may become. We need someone like Wasim Akram, to help develop these boys and a few more pace bowlers. If England could have a specialist spin bowling coach from Pakistan, I don't see any reason why we can't engage Akram. (In fact, I would like to have a good Pakistani coach for our spinners too, after seeng how much Monty Panesar improved under one))

Patchmaster
on December 23, 2012, 0:12 GMT

Derbach is ALWAYS so expensive - most class batsmen can get hold of him at some point, sure he gets a wicket or two, but boy does he go for some runs ! Wonderful captains innings, and hopefully it'll stop them brining back Broad as captain, as he should have been dropped from the side anyway for his poor form and lack of captaining ability. Well done Morgan, great win.

on December 23, 2012, 0:10 GMT

Both Rahane and Pujara are 'Test Class' batsmen, with potential. It is a shame that both want to prove to the selectors that they are good batsmen for the shorter formats. Badri tried and failed. Earlier Jaffer tried and failed. Tiwari may go the same way. All these guys, who could have been the core of the batting group for test matches, fell between the two stools - long form & short form. In batting, at least we have a few to work on, for building a test team. For bowling, the shelf is almost empty. Some one with authority should be identified and ear-marked by BCCI to nurture / mentor / develop a good Test Team. Earlier we start the better. In fact, we are already terribly late!

pulkit10
on December 23, 2012, 0:07 GMT

I have no idea why people read so much into a T20 game. It's an incredibly unpredictable format and it's really the only format where a technically weaker team can humble a stronger team. Good victory for England though, well deserved as they put in a good performance and glad this really went down to the last ball but that won't stop the India haters from coming out in droves and claiming that the team sucks in shorter formats too (which isn't true - they are only really miserable in tests).

I have no idea why India is persisting with Dinda. With some strictly average performances being his 'best' over the last 2 years, why is he here? He doesn't have the pace obviously and now it is becoming increasingly apparent that he doesn't have the control either. Awana is a step in the right direction but where are guys like Aaron, or Rahul Sharma? Why not try these instead of sticking with Chawla and Dinda? It's bloody surprising they won the first game with this team.

Swapnil_
on December 22, 2012, 23:46 GMT

@Shehzad Nizamani
Dude we had patience till today.This may b first time i m commenting.or second.I supported them all the way man.but my College team plays better than this.After ENG series or Aussie series we kept quiet.but this is our home pitch man.look at our bowling.First T20 also had dew.but ENG bowlers didnt panick as much as we did in 2nd T20.as u might b knowing very well,we have dew almost all 12 months.but still no bowler is enough wise to learn bowling in dew.

n Nice to c difrnt kinda of fight.Very rare.Indian supporting PAK n Pakistani Supporting Indian captain.n I do agree Misbah is bad captain.:-P
but trophy is all yours. I can bet.Its different thing that my college team will easily beat your national team...:-P...but my national team doesnt have that much guts....n BCCI wont let my College team to play with you...so u survived this time...

Maxyboy_123
on December 22, 2012, 23:46 GMT

Posted by Perceptive on (December 22 2012, 17:57 PM GMT) Perceptive if you want to compare Indian cricket to boxing then I think Audley Harrison would be a good example.

Swapnil_
on December 22, 2012, 23:37 GMT

@Shehzad Nizamani
Best captain?Dude u didnt c Test Matches against Eng.When IND was batting cook had slip,silly point,short leg n slip.evn for the batsman who were set.n our so called best captain didnt have such tactics even if new player is at the crease.It was Umesh Yadav who turned first test match India's way.but in 2nd match what dhoni did?he picked only zaheer.Zaheer is one bowler to whom even AFGHAN player can score 18 runs in 1 over.If u cud lend us some bowlers to us,it would be so kind of u.even newly born babies will be better than our bowling man.He is gud in T20, ok in ODI but disgusting in Test. Just like Ashwin, he treats T20 n Tests similar yaar

Al_Bundy1
on December 22, 2012, 23:37 GMT

That was a great last ball six by Morgan!! India was in the game until the last ball. Excellent batting by English batsmen. T20 game can change in a matter of an over. I think Indian batsmen did well, the bowlers came up short. Experienced IPL bowlers like Munaf Patel, Balaji, Irfan Pathan, or Vinay Kumar would have made the difference. They may not be suitable for test matches, but they are perfect for ODI/T20. But then, if you don't give a chance to youngsters, how would you prepare your bench strength? This is not T20 World Cup, so it doesn't matter if we lose a match.

on December 22, 2012, 23:31 GMT

Excellent win by England and great to see the young ENGLISH batsmen Hales and Buttler score runs again.

Just think how good England would be at 20/20 if we actually cared about it and just think how bad India would be if they didn't?

Zippydidodah
on December 22, 2012, 23:24 GMT

The England team seems to be making a habit of having a slow start to series recently. Its good that they have been able to turn them around, but it would be good if they had enough preparation to be ready at the start of the series. Hopefully, they can be competitive from the start of the ODIs.

The silence from the stands after Morgan's 6 shows how many England fans were in the stadium. For the test matches, I was waking at 3.30am to check on the progress. This match was a much more convenient time, but T20 doesn't appeal to me as much as test cricket, so I was only glancing at the score every so often.

on December 22, 2012, 23:10 GMT

Well Very Good victory at the end .. Great finish by morgan he is such a cool player.one thing for which i was laughing to see the indian fast bowlers.. they called them fast bowlers and talent.tell me what type of talent they are heaving?>> can't bowl yorkers can't bowl slower ones.. balaji , pathan and zaheer are mucher better than these new kids. they are not even rated in the good standards at domestic level.we are heaving a great fast bowling talent in our domestic cricket if not agree then can see our quaid e azam trophy how pacy and how good our new kids are. Nouman from city of fast bowlers. ( Rawalpindi)

on December 22, 2012, 22:56 GMT

Nah I disagree, India are a good Cricket team in my view but the only reason why I think they have been playing pathetically since that World Cup win is mainly because of too much Cricket and need a serious break so that they can be refreshed. Their regular players should take at least a 3 months break and in that time you can groom your youngsters. Once refreshed, start by playing lower ranked teams beat them then climb your way up to challenge the likes of South Africa and England only realistic way for India at the moment otherwise the current trend with IPL and all that will continue. Players like Yuvraj and Dhoni have put on a bit of weight so that shows Indian players are mentally and physically fatigued.

on December 22, 2012, 22:52 GMT

I did not understand one thing, why yuvi was not used as bowler in test series, he is far better bowler than Ashwin, what kind of relationship dhoni has with Ashwin, he protect him more than I protect my wife and to keep Ash's prestige yuvi was not used.

RednWhiteArmy
on December 22, 2012, 22:51 GMT

Even though its only T20 & therefor does not matter, the England kids did themselves proud tonight in a highly charged stadium. The future is bright & im gonna enjoy it.

hhillbumper
on December 22, 2012, 22:39 GMT

I think there might be a bonus of not keep picking saffer bowlers. What did Woakes do to lose out? also what about giving harris a go?

bumsonseats
on December 22, 2012, 22:30 GMT

it must be political for this guy Morgan, hes is in the top 5 of t20 cricketers in the world and unlike some of his peers shows it on the international stage. if you are telling me there are better finishers in world cricket. for him not to get a game last year in the ipl was criminal. hes a pocket battle ship.

Herath-UK
on December 22, 2012, 22:07 GMT

Excellent win by an inexperienced English team;Sri Lanka remain on top of T20 league.The win is all the more significant as England could not care less the T20 games by resting all stars.
Ranil Herath - Kent

on December 22, 2012, 22:04 GMT

@Swapnil_
Dhoni is the best Captain in the world and if you don't like him we Pakistanis would like to trade him for Misbah-ul-Haq.
Dhoni is the best Capitan I have ever seen and Misbah is the worst Capitan I have ever seen. India is lucky to have such a great Captain and also some great players. Your team won't win every game as English team is not in India for sightseeing. Calm down dude it happens its just a game, I know it hurts but its just a game.
I support Pakistan, England, Srilanka, Australia, Westindies, South Africa, Bangladesh and then India :P
But I like players like Dhoni, Sachin, Ghambir, Zaheer from your team more than, Misbah, Younis, Hafeez and Sami from our team.

JG2704
on December 22, 2012, 21:53 GMT

@Nampally on (December 22 2012, 19:24 PM GMT) re saying this WOULD have happened if India had made different team selections or if Dhoni did that would be like me saying England WOULD have won the test series 3-0 had Monty played in the 1st test or Eng would have won both the T20s if KP and Swann were there or Eng would have won easily if Buttler had come in earlier or if we selected a 2nd spinner or if our bowlers bowled Yorkers etc. Fact is just because Tredwell bowled better than anyone on our side doesn't mean a 2nd spinner would have etc etc. Fact is no one knows what would have happened if different decisions were made , it's just our opinions

JG2704
on December 22, 2012, 21:52 GMT

@SamuelH - Re Prior - I think he could do a job in T20 or ODIs despite his past failings but I guess you'd then get the similar scenario to now whereby he'd be rested anyway.

@mikey76 - Do you really think Morgan's the best in the world at these formats? He's played 2 or 3 gems this year but I'd say in the main he's been disappointing. Even in England I'd say Wright and Hales have been better in the last 6 months. However when in the zone he is a huge player

@Perceptive - I think anyone would celebrate their man beating Ali. Surely you're not bracketing India's cricket team with one of thee greatest sportsmen of all time

@BravoBravo - I wouldn't worry about it. Re Pak fans a friend of mine went to an ODI back in the mid 90s (Eng vs Pak) and said there were a load of Pak fans around him and their enthusiasm was incredible. They were cheering every boundary/six regardless of which team scored it

Front-Foot-Lunge
on December 22, 2012, 21:50 GMT

A monster hit from Morgan meant everyone could go home for Christmas knowing they've rubbed salt into India's wounds. The shorter form of the game is supposed o be India's strengh. These days it isn't. This is a fine England team.

on December 22, 2012, 21:42 GMT

Well played to both teams for the two 20 20 matches some fantastic cricket in both.
I hate to say but Patel need to be dropped again nothing to remember the lad during this tour.I still feel that Morgan and Butler should be comming in at 3 and four with Pietersen and bell and possibly Keisywetter as 1 and two. Cue the critics. In Butler we had an exceptional young cricketer that is now starting to show how good he is at the hihgest levels and really should have been put in higher.
When england put in patel i thought it was all over and india had won. Thankfully helost his wicket fast (no suprise and buttler just had enough time to make an impact.When buttler came in with 29 needed off 13 most would have written us off but i am a somerset fan and know how destructive he can be remembering the semifinal knock agains notts last year. He is still finding hio feet but the last three iniings he has had have been a far bigger impact than most willl see. Good on the lad.

BravoBravo
on December 22, 2012, 21:42 GMT

@Haresh Sukhraj: There was no golden era of IND cricket. It was all hype about a mediocre team.

Feroz9700
on December 22, 2012, 21:41 GMT

Indian bowling let them down, maybe it's time to use Harbhajan in T20 as Ashwin is becoming more and more predictable and seems to rely more on variations and ending up feeding too many lose balls. Harbhajan is a better hitter as well compared to Ashwin. Indian seamers are pretty inadequate as well especially Awana, don't think he should even make it to an Indian A team. India dearly misses Irfan and Balaji for sure.

Swapnil_
on December 22, 2012, 21:39 GMT

and for Pakistan series, I am definately supporting Pakistan.whatever conditions dey r suffering from, dey always play a very good cricket unlike my own team.dey have best world class spinner AJMAL,dey have quality pace attack n decent batting line up...

ENG had no KP,no Broad,No Anderson,No Swann,No kieswetter, but still we cant beat them.PAK will be almost impossible for Indian team.dey cant even match Pak players.Our Best spinner can not take wickets.Our wicket taking bowler is part timer.we select PIYUSH CHAWLA every series.on which basis, only selectors knows.I'll pay 1000 rs per delivery if anyone shows me a ball which got spin n bowled by Piyush Chawla.but still he is in the team.he doesnt give any flight n he is known as spin bowler.

PAK u come n win..Trophy is all urs...This is not an IPL so nobody from India will perform.But we, being big fools will support for India.Coz cricket is more dan Oxygen for us.but our players dont value anything like this.dey care for money n IPL

Swapnil_
on December 22, 2012, 21:31 GMT

Despite of all these shameful defeats we keep loving indian team.So we are even bigger fools.I accept that some day we might loose, but there should be some sporting spirit in that too.we have four of the top IPL bowlers and dey cant even stop runs,cant get wickets.Yuvi got wicket by slowing pace.but Chawla n Ashwin doesnt have this common sense.we are no 2 in population,but we cant produce a single bowler?shame on us.

Recently our Olympic committee was suspended by International Committee.If anyone can do this in cricket, please suspend BCCI too.Untill every politician who have never touched bat n ball is not rules out of BCCI, till then.we want former sports person on every position.

haq33
on December 22, 2012, 21:28 GMT

dear Haresh sukhraj and countless other indian fans and media personalities.....what "golden era" r u referring to? 10 minutes on top of a flawed ranking system?? india r yet to achieve anything truly "great" in my opinion. did india demolish all opponents including australia and RSA both home and away during this supposed golden era? did we live in fear of a deadly bharati pace and/or spin battery during this golden era? okay, 2 world cups and a t20 world cup isn't bad at all.....but india were not dominant in any of those tournaments or in any of those formats when they won the world cups. WI had a golden era, aus had a golden era....arguably so did england once. i am not saying india's golden era won't come but please, do yourselves a favour and stop believing the indian media hype. u had a solid middle batting order for a decade - that does not equate to a golden cricketing era.

Swapnil_
on December 22, 2012, 21:18 GMT

we have a captain who inspite of shameful defeat says that IPL can attract ENG players.we have inspiring idols who keep talking only about IPL.when HALES was batting,inspite of talking about his innings they talk that IPL franchise will b keeping an eye on HALES.what is this yaar?

Damn yaar.In India we have dew in 12 months almost.but our players cant even learn to bowl in dew.Eng players have so much hard practice sessions.but we cant even learn hw to bowl in our home conditions?we can not have even some plans for COOK all the test series?

BCCI is said to be richest.they cant even afford some technology to help dumbs to have some plan against some players.

nilb
on December 22, 2012, 21:17 GMT

@ BravoBrav Yeah Indian fans are very well known for their sporting behavior. LOL.

FieryFerg
on December 22, 2012, 21:13 GMT

Nice to see Dinda get his comeuppance for such a blatant piece of gamesmanship last ball. Probably backfired with the usual 7 captains in the Indian team all giving contradictory advice.

Front-Foot-Lunge
on December 22, 2012, 21:12 GMT

Awana is one of the worst seamers India have ever produced. If he's playing in the 50/50 matches England will love facing him.

Swapnil_
on December 22, 2012, 21:10 GMT

indian players are big dumbs.& Indian fans are evn more. B4 test series wid Eng even i was one of dem, a Die hard fans.But looks like all players are fixers only.

Eng have swing conditions & they produce quality air swing bowlers.Aussies have Fast pitches n dey too have thousands of fast bowlers.Pak is known for reverse swing n i assume a baby can do reverse swing.In contrast, Indian pitches are said to be turner,but we dont have a single quality spinner.what we have is ashwin who bowls similar in T20 & Tests.He can only bowl half pitches.we have fast bowlers who are so good at IPL but dey dnt bowl even a single slow ball delivry in last final 4.despite nt having spinning conditions Eng has Swann,Monty & Aussies had warne.but we Indians couldnt have a single bowler who could match these standards.

Naeem578
on December 22, 2012, 21:09 GMT

Dear indian fellows you believe it or not the era of 90's has once again arrived for your team. Here a second string English young chaps line up beated your full blooded team but there will be many in indian fan club who still will be having some sort of excuses for the loss. This Excuse making mindset and not accepting defeat has brought you to the current scenario. Plus English fans should control there emotions because after the 1st T20 they were commenting that they are not interested in t20 cricket :-)

Jeppo
on December 22, 2012, 21:07 GMT

In your Smart Stats section, England's target was not 181, it was 178.

Greatest_Game
on December 22, 2012, 20:41 GMT

@ Hammond. If you truly don't care, why do you keep posting comments telling us that you don't care? If you don't care, you would not have watched the match nor have read the match report, never mind bothered to post four comments. Your agenda here, like those of Front-Foot-Fool, becomes more transparent with each post: irrelevant empty barrels imitating trolls.

Trickstar
on December 22, 2012, 20:35 GMT

Got to ask the Indian fans, how the hell does Chawla keep getting picked, has he got some compromising images of the head of the BCCI or something, he really is the pits, can't bowl, can't field & can't bat.

on December 22, 2012, 20:35 GMT

India really blew this game away. The seamers had no direction or variation. Chawla should have only bowled two overs. He only bowl one good deliver in four overs. Yuvraj came on too late. Fielding was a mess. England deserve the win and looks like a better all round team than India.

Dhoni looked helpless in this match when they fielded.

A very very poor performance.

200ondebut
on December 22, 2012, 20:34 GMT

I think England can rightly claim the series. If you add up the total runs across the two matches Eng were three better and lost 3 less wickets. They are also better looking and their kit is a nicer tint of blue.

wiseshah
on December 22, 2012, 20:32 GMT

this is not even england A team, almost every regular player is missing. only player who played is morgan from main team. pathetic performance from india.

on December 22, 2012, 20:20 GMT

Once again wrong team selection, Dhoni still not learning lessons from mistakes, Awana and Piyush, still can't believe why he has chosen them again....Awana is the cause of todays result, He dropped a regulation catch, and given plenty of runs..Dhoni may need to prove that this is the reason he was playing with three spinners in the previous matches.Dhoni should have brought Yuvraj into attack bit earlier by considering his previous performance before England's massive domination over fast bowlers, sorry medium pace bowlers, instead he had given more chances to them. I reiterate Dhoni should choose the players who deserve the place in Indian team, it should not be based on his beliefs and superstitions... With full of respect He is a good captain india have ever seen , no doubt about it, but of late he is committing suicidal errors..which he has to immediately rectify. So far no eligible player in team to replace him but He has to be watchful for team India.

Trickstar
on December 22, 2012, 20:17 GMT

@cabinet96 LOL I think that says more about the IPL than it does about about England. The IPL is full of rank rubbish Indian's & Ozzies and the bowling in particular is village.

pauliangenius
on December 22, 2012, 20:06 GMT

A final nail on the coffin: India losing to a B CLASS English Side.

Should be an eye opener for BCCI: Batting is good but at least find some decent bowlers. Drop these club level bowlers from your team. i am sure BCCI can find 3 to 4 bowlers from such a big population.

Albert_cambell
on December 22, 2012, 20:04 GMT

England already tested their bench strength against the minnows. Now, its pakistans turn to test their bench strenght. pakistan should send their U19 team. Thats more than enough to beat this team.

Albert_cambell
on December 22, 2012, 20:00 GMT

India should call kenya,Afghanistan,Namibia,china and play t20 matches with them. So they can become as the No.1 t20 team in the world. If they cant they can call me, I will come with my street level cricketers they can beat us forever.

Kcila
on December 22, 2012, 19:57 GMT

@ratedstfu44 - you've just summed up exactly what's wrong with Indian cricket. The IPL isn't the future if India wants to be a winning criclet nation again. Its rubbish at Tests, not nuch good a ODIs and can't beat England in a two match T20 series yet don't worry all those prima donnas and BCCI will earn lots of cash at the IPL. So who cares eh? Clearly not you as a supporter. So sad.

Herath-UK
on December 22, 2012, 19:56 GMT

Excellent win by an English inexperienced team.
Sri Lanka remains top of the T20 table deservedly.
Ranil Herath - Kent

Playfair
on December 22, 2012, 19:53 GMT

That last last ball fielding deliberations probably cost India the game, Dhoni's field placings and lack of communication with Awana and Chawla was non existent, poor stuff really!

landl47
on December 22, 2012, 19:51 GMT

Great finish by Morgan. England won despite always seeming to be behind in the game, apart from a few overs in the middle of the Indian innings. It just shows what a lottery T20 is; whether that's good or bad depends on your point of view. Neither Dernbach nor Meaker looked good and they really shouldn't be in the side- just not enough control. Bresnan and Tredwell bowled well and Wright got lucky, but he's in for his batting. Patel either is good enough to bowl or he shouldn't be playing. He's not a good enough bat, certainly not at #5, and putting him in before Buttler almost cost England the game. Yuvraj had another great spell for India and they batted well, but the inexperienced seamers couldn't get the job done. England will be the happier side at the end of the series, having got a tie with a makeshift team.

Htc-Android
on December 22, 2012, 19:48 GMT

They said they have the best t20 league in the world. Guess what? They cant even beat "England A" team at home. This show the quality of cricket played in IPL. The most overrated t20 league ever.

mukesh_LOVE.cricket
on December 22, 2012, 19:48 GMT

Actually with the test series already lost , i don't think anyone really cares about this stupid t20 series , hope they put up a much better team against Australia

on December 22, 2012, 19:46 GMT

all the talk of india missing players? what about england missing anderson, swann, pieterson, finn?

bobmartin
on December 22, 2012, 19:39 GMT

All this IPL experience didn't help much when it came to the crunch did it ? All these super stars and they can't beat a bunch of "no-hopers".... So.. can't win a home test series, can't win a home T20 series... what next for India...

alfredmynn
on December 22, 2012, 19:39 GMT

While the importance of a T20 series cannot be compared to that of a test series, a professional international team should compete well regardless of format. Otherwise, it's a disgrace and a disrespect to fans who have paid to watch. From that standpoint, England has done well to square the series. There's also no necessity for fans of test cricket to have a go at the limited overs matches. Remember that Bradman considered ODIs a good thing to happen to cricket, and what's good for him should be good for us. The problem is not with a particular format, but with the lack of a balanced perspective by the powers that be in cricket.

on December 22, 2012, 19:38 GMT

INDIA Even can't win against a 2nd Class ENGLAND TEAM in T20!!Whats left for INDIA. Lose Test series in home ground and we thought They are only best in T20 but still cant survive.INDIANS again think u cant buy Cricket with Money u have to PLAY it on field.

on December 22, 2012, 19:38 GMT

like a jawed miandad last ball six against the same side @ sharjah :D

Prakmca
on December 22, 2012, 19:37 GMT

Captain cannot do anything if someone bowls like Awana. In commentary Ganguly mentioned that Awana's capability should not calculated on latest 2 t20 performance. If a bowler who played so many ranji matches, it is basic common sense to bowl to the field. Even after getting thrashed by bowling short, he kept on bowling short. Stupid. On what basis he was into the team?? India had problems with the fast bowlers, they never become wise with experience. Zaheer, even after playing so many Intl matches....never gained anything. Ishant Sharma also in the same category. Irfan Pathan injured. WHere is Praveen, Varon Aron... Even Sreeshant is better than Awana. Today match lost due to worst fast bowling. Probably Aswim should be given rest for few matches. That doesn't mean to bring back Harbajan and Jaedja. Instead of Jadeja, Yusuf Pathan can be included in 14 member squad.

SaadRocx
on December 22, 2012, 19:37 GMT

Shame on the Crowd...they should no sportsman ship...after that six been hit..there was silence all around...I bet had that match been played in Pakistan..the whole crowd will appreciate the performance of both teams..cause we support good cricket...

haq33
on December 22, 2012, 19:31 GMT

Indian bowlers will have nightmares about Morgan as well as Miandad now.

astopal
on December 22, 2012, 19:31 GMT

@BravoBravo the dead silence was for Dhoni and his dream of becoming no1 t-20 team. Because he knows that in his rest of test cricketing career India will never be able to be even ranked 3rd in Test ranking.
Real Indian fans are so thankful to English team for winning today's t-20. This should shut Dhoni's supporters up otherwise they would have written a captaincy rebound for his scorecard of 10 losses out of last 12 tests with 2-0 win in a pointless t-20 series.(Seriously7 hours of thong cricket getting precedence over 60 days of sucking at test cricket WOW) Thank you Media channels for trying to divert attention from the losses by celebrating the 1st t-20 win.I hope Indian followers are not dumb enough to forget this stat 10 lost out of 12 with 1 win and 1 draw that makes success rate of 8.33% in test matches. And this guy Dhoni is still the captain and says well its not as bad as WC 2007 .lahahahaaha (Stutipremarksinducedbrainfreezelaughterreflex:) Thank you Dhoni!

SVSHK
on December 22, 2012, 19:27 GMT

T20 : No need of Rohit Sharma, Jadeja, Chawla, Awana.
Shewag should be includeded and may be give a chance to Rayudu, M Tiwary or Dhawan.
Not sure what happen to Irfan,Praveen,Vinay,Balaji,Munaf,Umesh and Zaheer (One of them should be there and selectors can play around with other available on bench for 2nd bowler.)
Spin Department : Though Ashwin is goto bowler , these days he is failing but Yuvi is supporting enough, selectors can bring in Bajji or Mishra.

Bang_La
on December 22, 2012, 19:26 GMT

ah, so India is NOT the king of T-20 as claimed by its media? If only media could play instead of the hapless players out in the field!

Nampally
on December 22, 2012, 19:24 GMT

@JG2704: I agree with your views as regards the 2 Captains made several poor decisions. Firstly in XI selection- Dhoni should not have dropped Jadeja with Chawla & Awana being so poor. Jadeja is similar in style to Yuvraj & would have turned the tables with a couple of wkts. with low S/R. Dhoni's second mistake was his field placing. Why on earth did he not put more fielders on the fence to save 4's as England did? India would have easily won had Dhoni's field placing was better & also if Yuvraj was brought on early. Finally, Indian batting faltered in the last 2 overs getting 7 runs in the final over. On the England side Patel is a poor choice for T20. An extra seamer like Harris is better choice. Butler should have batted above Patel as well. England's opening attck did look poor with Dernbach being specially expensive. On paper Indian team looked much stronger if right Ci was selected.So in the final count I feel Dhoni erred badly in his XI + field placing, yet nearly won lottery!

on December 22, 2012, 19:22 GMT

i am a great fan of Indian cricket but i believe the cracks are showing on indian cricket and their golden era has end.. if something doesn't happen drastically then i see they will become just like West indies (after the mid 90s).. its a similar situation.. talents there but the players aren't taking it into the international stage.. real problems with the bowlers and just like west indies the players coming now aren't good enough to replace the greats ( Dravid, Tendulkar, Dada and Kumble)... india has just being whitewash twice, lost to England at home in a test series after 28 years and india aren't even playing convincing limited overs cricket either. take the VB series earlier this year as an example, the series of england as well and of course the world T20... India are slowly sliding down...

subbass
on December 22, 2012, 19:19 GMT

Nice to beat the arrogant Indians although in fairness most the fans are fair and honest apart from on here and you tube ofc !

on December 22, 2012, 19:17 GMT

Weldon Morgan. Captain's inning to smash indians

Nampally
on December 22, 2012, 19:11 GMT

While Captain Morgan did a great job finishing the game in style with a Six, the Indian bowling looked worst than ever. Only guy who stood out was Yuvraj like in the first ODI. Only Dhoni knows why he did not drop either Chawla or Awana to make room for a batsman. Jadeja was the last guy to be left out of XI. Dhoni's lack of familiarity of individual players' capabilities are shockingly poor!. It is evident that Indian bowling centres round Yuvraj & Jadeja - both determined guys with accuracy. Why on earth he dropped Jadeja when both Chawla & Awana or so poor as cricketers - each dropped a catch besides bowling @10 runs/over. That is the answer to India's defeat more than Morgan's Six!. You cannot have passengers in T20. You also need brilliant fielders. Dhoni is advised to replace Chawla & Awana with Rahul Sharma & S.Nadeem, if he wants T20 type of bowlers.Awana & Dinda are not T20 bowlers & India needs likes of P.Kumar & M. Patel.Jadeja is the best T20 guy.Today's Batsmen are all OK

suve
on December 22, 2012, 19:07 GMT

cabinet96: Oh dear, your comment made me laugh. No one in the world cares about IPL except Indian fans like you who think IPL is such a big thing. There are other Leagues if they wanted to play but Most cricketers still care about playing for their country unlike all the Indian cricketers at present. I remember recalling another Indian fan, who mentioned how great Dhoni is because he won some IPL trophy but not because he's won 2 world cups. What is going on with Indian cricketers and Fans?

Trickstar
on December 22, 2012, 19:07 GMT

The commentators kept saying India would go to No.1 in T20 with this win, how the hell would that be possible when they've been just as average as England this year. India this year have played 12 & won 7 lost 5, England who have slipped off the top spot because of the WC performance are now in 5th or whatever have played 14 won 7 lost 6, only a game or so difference. I mean when England had that run of wins and results you could see why they were at No1, out of 23 games we won 16 up to this years WC.

scottnye
on December 22, 2012, 19:05 GMT

Lol @ some of the comments on here

Lol @ the hapless, ageing Indian team

Lol @ the Indian fans who said they would smash us in these 2 games

Lol @ the faces of the fans when Morgan hit that final 6

Mercy Christmas to everyone all over the world, lets look forward for some more good cricket in 2013

cric_HonestOpinion
on December 22, 2012, 18:56 GMT

For once Pakistani cricket fans should stop bashing India. India is giving them fair chance by hosting the one day series and India will be the first team to visit their country for International matches.
England has been brilliant in this series and they deserve every bit even to do very well in the one day series.
India is and will go through the transition and these periods are bound to be there. I am sure India has done better in this T20 series after the test series and will continue to do better in 2013 though I can't see them win the Australia series unless 2 bowlers take up responsibility.
For the Pakistani fans this India bashing won't help you in the upcoming series as you very well understand both the teams will raise their levels and you have already seen who raises their level more in big tourneys.
It will anyhow be a thrilling series as chips are down for both the sides now after recent shows.

on December 22, 2012, 18:56 GMT

This pathetic performance of bowlers Dinda, Awana and Chawla shows that they are not suited for international level, they are only good at Ranji level. They are lacking basic qualities at this level, no presence of mind, no variation nothing, Awana drops a sitter and smiles and that shows the attitiude of the player.

ratedstfu44
on December 22, 2012, 18:53 GMT

Shame for India that they were unable to win series. Balaji, sreesanth, gony, may be injured, but they all will get fit before ipl. That's the future.

BravoBravo
on December 22, 2012, 18:50 GMT

The dead silence at Wankhede, Mumbae is so unsporting. What a shame. That reflects the IND fan mentality, very unsporting. I never observed that kind of "dead silence" reaction from any other country's fan. NZ has the most sporting fans, followed by WI, PAK, SA, ENG, AUS. It was so dismal hearing about this "dead silence" at a conclusion of good game. May that silence will persist for IND fans, and it will. IND needs to stick with IPL for their sadistic pleasure. Though my feeling is that IPL is closing to its demise.

richardror
on December 22, 2012, 18:48 GMT

@cabinet96 - because the IPL is full of wannabe legends who are not good enough for domestic cricket, and has-beens looking to cash in.

on December 22, 2012, 18:46 GMT

a thriller , good and bad performances from both sides, historically india is good batting team and bad bowling team in my opinion both played well, england overall performance was good so they got the crown

Long-Leg
on December 22, 2012, 18:43 GMT

I know that T20 is just a bit of fun, but can someone please tell me who is the genius who made this a two match series? Did they just assume that India would win both matches? Surely this is a contest that is crying out for a decider!

jmcilhinney
on December 22, 2012, 18:40 GMT

@Perceptive on (December 22 2012, 17:57 PM GMT), so you're saying that England fans should not be happy when England win? Would India fans have been allowed to be happy if India had won? Is noone ever allowed to celebrate a win if you don't think their opposition is good enough?

shovwar
on December 22, 2012, 18:40 GMT

@Perceptive...y are u taking ur frustation out on English fans? If ur team cannot put up a decent 11 its ur problem. England team went to India to play their best 11. If thats what BCCI has to offer then its not England's fault. Maybe India duzn have enough resource. England and us Saffers are at the top of the ODI rankings and I hope U Indians give them a good fight and take some points out of the England team. Best of Luck. And always remember...u cant coun t on ur best 11 all the time u should have some good reserves because injuries are always there. If u dont have enough reserves to back it up then u r not a good team.

jmcilhinney
on December 22, 2012, 18:37 GMT

@cabinet96 on (December 22 2012, 18:17 PM GMT), so, are you saying that the IPL is full of rubbish players?

on December 22, 2012, 18:36 GMT

England second XI without Pietersen, Cooke, Anderson, Swann, Broad (the T20 captain) Finn (the best short form bowler England have)...playing india IN MUMBAI ..Win at a game India love and England really couldn't care a less about. That really is FUNNY. How bad can India get? I have a new tag line for you "IPL - DESTROYING INDIA'S CRICKETING SKILLS IN FRONT OF A LAUGHING WORLD"

on December 22, 2012, 18:35 GMT

Captain cool Morgan made Ireland proud.

deol84
on December 22, 2012, 18:29 GMT

please sack ashwin,beaten in the test series and in t20 also,india have to understand ashwin,dinda,awana and rohit sharma are all ranji level player,kuch to sharam karo.

Yousufahmedl
on December 22, 2012, 18:26 GMT

@IKJE, when BCCI never pampers their bowlers by supporting DRS, how can you develop bowlers? I think India can easily find bowlers by hunting in the Himalayas or even in the Lost City Atlantis as there is an abundance of bowlers there.

GeoffreysMother
on December 22, 2012, 18:22 GMT

Why did India take so long to bowl the last ball? Did someone go to consult Tendulkar?
Boring cricket compared to Test matches.

mikey76
on December 22, 2012, 18:22 GMT

India dusted without Finn, KP and Swann. Morgan is the best limited overs batsman around at the moment, Ice Cool. Why on earth it's a 2 match series. Surely if the time scale is a problem they can play two matches on the same day.

pom_don
on December 22, 2012, 18:21 GMT

Poor bowling by England's seamers except Bresnan we should have been chasing about thirty less but a good bit of hit & giggle to enjoy during the Xmas break, some great batting from the lads but only a bit of meaningless fun.....well it is to us in England at least!

cabinet96
on December 22, 2012, 18:17 GMT

Mock the Indian seamers you may, but they're the ones playing the IPL. The two batsmen at the end aren't (Yes I know Morgan has a contract but he didn't play a game last year)

Trickstar
on December 22, 2012, 18:17 GMT

@ Perceptive Please tell me you're not comparing India to Muhammad Ali because frankly that would be weird and a bit cringeworthy.

Trickstar
on December 22, 2012, 18:14 GMT

Yes agree with you about where Buttler bats in the line up and the stats back them up ,@ 5 averages 52.00 at a s/r of 208.00. @ 6 averages 19.00 at a s/r of 113.43.@ 7 averages 9.33 at a s/r of 107.69. It's clear he has to come in at No5 after Morgan and I'd be tempted to put Wright down to 6 when KP comes back. I reckon England have got the makings of a very good batting line up here with all kinds of players from 1-6 and especially 2 good finishes with Buttler coming on the scene. I still think Cook could do a very good job & Prior should be given another crack in this format, he's been awesome for Sussex in the FP T20. Less said about the bowling the better, sooner we get the like of Finn, Swann & Broad back the better. I do think Meaker has the makings of a fine bowler, whether it will be in this format I don't know, more likely test match bowler

A_Yorkshire_Lad
on December 22, 2012, 18:12 GMT

Great win by the lads , what a finish !! WELL DONE ENGLAND ! @ Trickstar , i agree but i think most of us would find going down to their level a pretty hard ask ! @ Brusselslion , brilliant !!
Seriously , a good result but it could easily have one the other way - not like the 1st match ! Still , a win's a win and we'll take that. Cheers everyone and A MERRY CHRISTMAS to all !

Yousufahmedl
on December 22, 2012, 18:12 GMT

Why wont India simply concentrate only on IPL? Surely they can scrap all their future test fixtures and have an all year IPL.

jmcilhinney
on December 22, 2012, 18:12 GMT

This was not exactly the second XI that some would have us believe but it wasn't a full strength England side either, so that bodes well. Add KP, possibly the best T20 batsmen in the world and definitely in the top 3, to the team and the batting looks strong. Buttler has looked good after a slow start to his career and with Bairstow available too I'm not especially concerned about the batting. It's the bowling where there are most concerns. The England bowlers still don't seem to know what length works in T20 cricket and the number of wides they're bowling could be really costly. I'm happy to see that England have generally regained their mojo in the field, so long may that continue. I'm quite looking forward to the ODIs after this win and am hoping for England to be genuinely competitive.

S_R_Kannan
on December 22, 2012, 18:11 GMT

We need to know IF Rohit Sharma has Justified his Inclusion.Also can anybody say how many times that Rohit Sharma has played for a Losing Match OR to put it the otherway does Rohit Sharma plays for India or for the opponent whenever he is included.Come On Mr.Rohit try to use the umpteen number of opportunities given by the selectors.

eng_mdkhan
on December 22, 2012, 18:09 GMT

@ Arpit Tiwari, I was wondering how all these bowlers are injured and I am beginning to think there is something fishy going on. Munaaf, Balaji were the two standouts in the last IPL edition and look at the opportunities given to them. Actually the Indian cricket is right now running like a poorly managed company whose management works only for their personal benefit and not for the benefit of the company.

I fear for India's long term bowling future, especially seamers. You simply cannot learn the skills needed on a diet of 10 and 4 over spells. Although some, like Malinga, have now retired from first class cricket, the best ODI and T20 bowlers learned their skills from the first class game

In 10 years where will India's bowlers come from?

Akshita29
on December 22, 2012, 18:03 GMT

Good t20 series and exciting and thrilling end. This is the best part about t20 its . Anyways yuvraj's bowling a plus point for India and now we know Awana and Chawla are not just yet ready for international cricket Dinda probably deserves one more chance. Batting was good from India as one can expect from Indian batsmen from t20 games . But really missed KP . Hales and Butler should be regular in odi and then England could have a very strong ODI side and they are probably the no 1 ranked Odi side now and future of English odi side looks brighter. They lost to India 5-0 but thrased Pakisthan 4-0 in UAE so next Odi series In India could be very exciting . But as an Indian fan and with home advantage hope India can win the ODI series atleast . Although way things are going even that might be difficult for India.

Yousufahmedl
on December 22, 2012, 18:03 GMT

Where is samincolumbia? India should keep playing teams like Kenya, Canada, Afghanistan, Namibia. I am sure that Afghanistan and Ireland can clobber India with least hassle.

SDHM
on December 22, 2012, 18:00 GMT

@JG - with Patel, for me he just doesn't seem to have a set role in mind. He's a beautifully wristy player, but struggles to find the gaps, and he also struggles to hit enough boundaries to make up for that and the fact he's slow between the wickets. With his bowling featuring less and less, his place has to be questioned. When someone like Prior is sitting on the sidelines, it's almost shooting yourself in the foot not to bring him in.

Perceptive
on December 22, 2012, 17:57 GMT

Lol well done you smashed around Awana and Dinda, the worst pairing I've ever seen at international level. England fans are the type who would celebrate an English boxer beating Muhammed Ali........now.

jb633
on December 22, 2012, 17:56 GMT

Excellent T20 game and this is a good advert for the game. It doesn't really matter about the end result as T20 cricket is meaningless but it was good fun. India can only every win games whilst batting second. With their rank bowling attack you would back most sides to chase down almost anything they get 1st innings. Good fun, meaningless game, well played for both sides. Merry Xmas

GerrardLK
on December 22, 2012, 17:54 GMT

So India's next series is against Pakistan at their own backyard. When they have invited Pak to their country, you could easily predict the match results based on the pre-agreement with both countries' govt. bodies. After the series, the childish Indian fans will gloat about the victory & dance around saying India is back. I'm waiting for that funniest moment.

kandykolla
on December 22, 2012, 17:52 GMT

What a match ! Well done England !! India should concentrate and invest more on Kabaddi, Carrom, Gilli danda etc.... can be always World champions !!!

Solid_Snake
on December 22, 2012, 17:51 GMT

I love Indian bowlers..Awana & Danda..Omg both are fearsome..
I bet even UAE team would give them a beating :P

on December 22, 2012, 17:48 GMT

when i see the players list from the two teams , good to see england beat indians in india with these new players

brusselslion
on December 22, 2012, 17:48 GMT

Dear Friends,

SEASONAL APPEAL

Season's greetings to all cricket lovers.

At this festive time of year, I would ask you to give a thought to those less fortunate than yourselves. There is a lot of misery in the world and this manifests itself very clearly in the plight of the Indian cricket supporter. For two long years, this hardy group have suffered from the abject performances of their team with no sign of things improving; indeed, things appear to be getting worse. That's why this year, we are asking all Test playing nations to donate a cricketer to India. If you can spare a Kallis or an Ajmal, a Cook or a Hughes, a Tahir or a Dishan, a Southee or a Gayle that would be great but if not, a one cap wonder will do as I'm sure that the Indian team will be able to make use of them. Please give generously; 1 billion cricket lovers are suffering needlessly. Thank you.

The_bowlers_Holding
on December 22, 2012, 17:44 GMT

Watched the match as it started at a nice time in the states, good fun but it really is pantomime isn't it, the fans seem to take it so seriously in the ground I almost felt sorry for them when Morgan battered the last ball halfway to the moon. Yuvraj is really useful in this format in India and was a worthy 'man of the series' not sure if 2 matches really merits being called a series. England have blooded some more youngsters and the big game atmosphere will benefit them, Chawla really looks poor (and old for his age). I repeat my previous comments the commentary is so biased and one sided it is silly. Merry christmas

Trickstar
on December 22, 2012, 17:44 GMT

Just because we've just mugged them off in their own back yard England fans, don't lower yourselves down to their level, rise above it all people.

JG2704
on December 22, 2012, 17:42 GMT

Dernbach is obviously a player who may think should be out of the side and it seems harder to justify keeping faith with him. I'm now starting to wonder re Patel. I'd not have considered leaving him out of the side up til now but (in this format) if he's not going to bowl any overs and he's not the most athletic in the field , is his batting good enough to keep him in the side?

JG2704
on December 22, 2012, 17:42 GMT

Brilliance and major flaws from both teams. The one thing to me which stood out was some poor captaincy decisions from both sides. I thought MSDs decision not to use spin earlier was awful. I still feel that our team selection was strange and bringing in Root for a bowler seemed very strange. I said this up front and feel the fact that Root neither batted or bowled backs it up. Our seamers were poor again and again few Yorkers (or even attempted Yorkers) , not to mention the wides. Re batting ,although I must give Yuvraj huge credit I felt we paid him too much respect. I also felt that bringing in Patel above Jos was a poor move as Jos was in confident mood after the last game and Jos is also faster between the wickets. We were also lucky with the Kholi decision and that India's fielding was so poor. Both captains played well but neither captained particularly well

on December 22, 2012, 17:42 GMT

Great batting by Morgan & Lumb.....India were poor to be honest but not according to those overly biased Indian commentators.....they keep saying the good things about them !! lol......nway thumps up England !! Cheerz from Bangladesh!!

jmcilhinney
on December 22, 2012, 17:42 GMT

Well, that was an exciting game. It's 4.30 AM here in Sydney, Australia so, as you can tell, I'm one of the England fans who does care about T20, albeit not as much as Tests. Not the best game for the bowlers and Yuvraj was easily the best from either team. England missing a few of their regular bowlers but they might need a rethink anyway. It might have been worth giving Patel an over or two, given that Meaker, Wright and Dernbach all went for runs. The batting was relatively even between the two teams, although they did seem to accelerate and slow down at completely opposite points in their innings. I think that the main difference was the fielding. England's was clearly superior and that was worth a difference of maybe 20 runs in the end. Good to see Lumb and Morgan both come back strongly after being the ones to miss out in the first game. Lumb was never really fluent but he got the job done and that start was crucial. Great finish by Morgan and nice little cameo from Buttler too.

amarnath79
on December 22, 2012, 17:40 GMT

Why is Ashwin in the team? Certainly not for his bowling!

AKS286
on December 22, 2012, 17:38 GMT

morgan morgan morgan morgan THE HERO. i was shouting infront of my TV set that please awana or any bowler bold samit patel with 1st ball duck so Buttler and ROOT can lift this match. just THRILLER. ENG fielding is awesome.

Warm_Coffee
on December 22, 2012, 17:36 GMT

I think India should play teams like New Zealand and Kenya because England are just too good but great display by them.

on December 22, 2012, 17:33 GMT

team india is facing the deficit of quality bowlers ; hope selectors are not thinking to make yuvi as a specialist one .by the way where is nehra , praveen kumar , munaaf are gone

lol, they cant win even the stupid T20 format -they love it and compares it against test revange ........a man without knowing much of cricket will even start laughing with their word "revange".......they use word "minnow" to Bangladesh , now let me tell the trugth, no, India is not a mnnow in cricket however, many of them think really with a minnow mentality....

Pathetic result for the Indians, in their strong format. England will now continue with the rest of this miserable series, and wipe the floor with this pathetic Indian team. So, now they're NO GOOD in any format. No energy or motivation in the 5 day game, and the same is happening again in the 20 over format...Sooo sad and pathetic!!

Trickstar
on December 22, 2012, 17:26 GMT

It's got to be said Buttler is turning into the player a lot of England fans were hoping he would become in international cricket, got off to a shaky start but he's coming good, he certainly has it all to be an awesome one day player. There's a couple of players who's career should be done & that is Dernbach and Patel, pointless picks imo. As if someone like Prior isn't a better T20 batsman than Patel and should be at least around this squad, he had a strike rate of around 200 in English T20.

Shan156
on December 22, 2012, 17:26 GMT

Avenger, the team that you mention losing in UAE and at home was the one that inflicted a whitewash and a home series defeat in India. So, if that team is poor, then India must be worse. Btw, I dont think India is a minnow team. Most sensible England fans wont think either. Just because the moniker is Gerrard doesnt mean he/she is an Eng fan. I think Gerrardlk is a SL fan.

And, well played England. Now if we could win an ODI or two in India, that would be great.

Lmaotsetung
on December 22, 2012, 17:25 GMT

BTW just waking up and watching the last couple of overs on TV and hearing total silence in the Wankhede Stadium after Morgan's six...PRICELESS!

Lmaotsetung
on December 22, 2012, 17:22 GMT

Bad luck Indians. So much for a limited overs whitewash. Maybe the new year will bring better luck. There is always a shot of an ODI whitewash to look forward to so start cranking up the predictions and we'll see you in 2013! MERRY CHRISTMAS TO MEEEEEEEEEE!

Munkeymomo
on December 22, 2012, 17:21 GMT

Very thrilling finish. Morgan and Buttler finished brilliantly. Would rather Buttler batted at 5 still, but great game to watch. England and India have put on some very close, exciting games over the last few years (along with some very one sided ones before somebody mentions 5-0 last year!).

GerrardLK
on December 22, 2012, 17:21 GMT

End result- English dominates the flat track bullies India at their own backyard & what a fairy tale by slapping on their face in the last ball of the tour. Morgan you beauty. Take that India.

suve
on December 22, 2012, 17:20 GMT

India have lost to a Weak England B team here. India wanted to win so badly but couldn't. Brilliant by Morgan at the end, feel so sorry for the 50 000 people in the stadium. I must also say that India are without no doubt the Worst Fielding side in the world. So India with all the IPL experience cannot win a couple of games with a weak England team. India are a bad team at the moment.

Hammond
on December 22, 2012, 17:19 GMT

I just watched a full T20 game. It impressed me mildly. I couldn't care less who won.

t.feroze
on December 22, 2012, 17:19 GMT

Well someone was telling me not to be so hard on samit patel......and you saw again today, had he stayed longer the game would have been over for eng.....

Trickstar
on December 22, 2012, 17:18 GMT

Love it or hate it that was a nerve racking finish, brilliant game and England's batting especially Morgan and Buttler was awesome, pure excitement & what a way to win it with HUGE 6.

hhillbumper
on December 22, 2012, 17:18 GMT

Oh my God we can even beat you at a game that we aren't that much cop at.

Oh India you are not that much cop.

See you in the one dayers in january. Just one question as you lost this one do you not like T 20 now either?

on December 22, 2012, 17:16 GMT

Those who are critisising Vinaykumar and asking for Dinda and Awana now see the performanace of these players.Vinay atleast not beaten like this and even taken wickets and dont we have any replacement for chawala what a waste player.

on December 22, 2012, 17:16 GMT

Ha ha ha ha ha ha (choke) Ha ha ha. England couldn't give a darn about T20 - India the "IPL Kings" can't even win in their own back yard. How RUBBISH are India at all forms of cricket even when everything is in their favour. ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.
Seeing all these Indian fatties who are paid millions losing. India win at "pie eating and making millions for being rubbish" Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!

Sanga007
on December 22, 2012, 17:15 GMT

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!!!!!!!!!!
Morgan & Butler What a Finish.This was fantastic piece of cricket

disco_bob
on December 22, 2012, 17:15 GMT

It was worth waiting 6 minutes for that last ball.

richardror
on December 22, 2012, 17:14 GMT

India can't even win a series in what they do most and England do least.

chilled_avenger
on December 22, 2012, 16:56 GMT

@ GerrardLK So because India got whitewashed in an Away test series and then lost a Home series,it's a minnow? But I seem to remember another team which recently got whitewashed 3-0 in UAE and then lost 2-0 at Home! Can you please name that side?

GerrardLK
on December 22, 2012, 15:57 GMT

So lets see if the Minnow team India can beat a side in cricket in an unpredictable format called T20 which doesn't serve anything for pure talents & skills, but will only depend on luck. Btw If India loses don't call it luck for English my dear foolish Indian fans. You guys have already witnessed the truth in test series & you have to live with it.

Prakmca
on December 22, 2012, 15:56 GMT

does Awana looks like international bowler.... Its shame to have kind of this player representing playing eleven. Ridiculous.

T20 is tamasha (entertainment) cricket, and Indians are starved of entertainment. After all how many Bollywood movies can u watch? I think, T20 and Test match are here to stay - ODI will die a slow death in the next 5-10 years. That said, excellent batting performance by Indian batsmen. Now it's up to the bowlers and fielders to win this match for India.

colinham
on December 22, 2012, 15:16 GMT

Unfortunately Dernbach has been found out by international teams - the variations seem to now just be cannon fodder as he's not consistent enough.
He's been going for 9 or10 an over for the last few matches and not taking wickets. 2 for 37 today (with a decent last over against primarily new batsmen) to follow up 0-27 (off 3), 0-42,1-38,1-45.

richardror
on December 22, 2012, 15:04 GMT

Find it frustrating seeing more Indians turning up to the t20s than the tests. Everyone knows there is a lot less skill involved in t20s and, even though they can be entertaining at times there should not be more than 5 or so per year, per country. By concentrating on the , the countries skill in the main form will suffer, as India have proved.

Hammond
on December 22, 2012, 15:01 GMT

Watching my first T20 all the way through I wonder why they don't use the same excellent cricket wickets in the test matches?

Hammond
on December 22, 2012, 14:49 GMT

Actually watching the pantomime just wanted to ask why this pitch wasn't used in the test series? Great cricket wicket..

Hammond
on December 22, 2012, 14:18 GMT

I am actually watching this pantomime wondering why they couldn't have produced such an excellent cricket wicket for the test series? Just a thought..

jimbond
on December 22, 2012, 14:16 GMT

I hope they don't use Rahane's failures in T20s to keep him out of tests- just the way they did with Rohit Sharma.

richardror
on December 22, 2012, 13:59 GMT

Although England would undoubtedly regard the t20s as unimportant compared to the test series I would prefer England to pick their strongest team, instead if having a second XI playing.

JG2704
on December 22, 2012, 13:37 GMT

Strange selection from England IMO. Although our batting has not been altogether great I feel our bowling has been more of a problem in this form of cricket this year and to replace a bowler with a batsmen seems baffling to me. If you're going to bring Root in surely it has to be for Lumb who I rate but was awful last time out. Also you wonder about the 5th bowler. Patel was not bowled in the last match , Wright was bowled in the last match but his bowling has largely been ignored by past captains so you're trusting a combo of Wright (who rarely bowls) , Patel (who was not trusted last time out) and Root (who is very much part time) for the 5th lot of overs and that's presuming all 4 bowlers do their jobs ok. Dernbach is lucky to retain his place but maybe conditions will be better for pace bowling this time around. Also I hope Buttler doesn't come in so low down the order

No featured comments at the moment.

JG2704
on December 22, 2012, 13:37 GMT

Strange selection from England IMO. Although our batting has not been altogether great I feel our bowling has been more of a problem in this form of cricket this year and to replace a bowler with a batsmen seems baffling to me. If you're going to bring Root in surely it has to be for Lumb who I rate but was awful last time out. Also you wonder about the 5th bowler. Patel was not bowled in the last match , Wright was bowled in the last match but his bowling has largely been ignored by past captains so you're trusting a combo of Wright (who rarely bowls) , Patel (who was not trusted last time out) and Root (who is very much part time) for the 5th lot of overs and that's presuming all 4 bowlers do their jobs ok. Dernbach is lucky to retain his place but maybe conditions will be better for pace bowling this time around. Also I hope Buttler doesn't come in so low down the order

richardror
on December 22, 2012, 13:59 GMT

Although England would undoubtedly regard the t20s as unimportant compared to the test series I would prefer England to pick their strongest team, instead if having a second XI playing.

jimbond
on December 22, 2012, 14:16 GMT

I hope they don't use Rahane's failures in T20s to keep him out of tests- just the way they did with Rohit Sharma.

Hammond
on December 22, 2012, 14:18 GMT

I am actually watching this pantomime wondering why they couldn't have produced such an excellent cricket wicket for the test series? Just a thought..

Hammond
on December 22, 2012, 14:49 GMT

Actually watching the pantomime just wanted to ask why this pitch wasn't used in the test series? Great cricket wicket..

Hammond
on December 22, 2012, 15:01 GMT

Watching my first T20 all the way through I wonder why they don't use the same excellent cricket wickets in the test matches?

richardror
on December 22, 2012, 15:04 GMT

Find it frustrating seeing more Indians turning up to the t20s than the tests. Everyone knows there is a lot less skill involved in t20s and, even though they can be entertaining at times there should not be more than 5 or so per year, per country. By concentrating on the , the countries skill in the main form will suffer, as India have proved.

colinham
on December 22, 2012, 15:16 GMT

Unfortunately Dernbach has been found out by international teams - the variations seem to now just be cannon fodder as he's not consistent enough.
He's been going for 9 or10 an over for the last few matches and not taking wickets. 2 for 37 today (with a decent last over against primarily new batsmen) to follow up 0-27 (off 3), 0-42,1-38,1-45.

Al_Bundy1
on December 22, 2012, 15:39 GMT

T20 is tamasha (entertainment) cricket, and Indians are starved of entertainment. After all how many Bollywood movies can u watch? I think, T20 and Test match are here to stay - ODI will die a slow death in the next 5-10 years. That said, excellent batting performance by Indian batsmen. Now it's up to the bowlers and fielders to win this match for India.

Prakmca
on December 22, 2012, 15:56 GMT

does Awana looks like international bowler.... Its shame to have kind of this player representing playing eleven. Ridiculous.